Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 320 Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm

"What's wrong? Where's your money?" He Le finished making a record for Sun Zheng and then looked up at Han Yi.

Han Yi was speechless. He tried to ask if he could get an extension, to pay for half a month first and then make up the rest next time.

His hesitation was immediately noticed by He Le.

Two newcomers, one so generous and open-handed, paying six months' tuition in one go without even blinking an eye. Why is it that the other one starts dragging their feet and causing friction?

He was just about to say something.

"Let me do it." At this moment, Zhong Han smiled and took the gold note from Han Yi's hand, then handed it to He Le after making up the difference.

"That's fine then." He Le took the gold note, put away her disdainful look, and casually lowered her head to register Han Yi.

"Alright, Xiao Wang, give each of them a set of inner courtyard attire." He instructed the man on the other side.

"Okay." The thin man quickly got up and started rummaging in the corner.

Han Yi remained silent, glancing at Sun Zheng beside him. Sun Zheng was still smiling, as if he hadn't seen anything.

He then turned to look at Zhong Han.

The senior sister smiled gently, raised her finger, and made a shushing gesture to her lips.

She winked playfully, a rare occurrence for her, without saying a word, but her meaning was clear.

She noticed that Han Yi had been rummaging through his clothes for a while, and then she saw that he only had that little bit of money in his hand, plus his ugly expression, and she immediately understood what was going on.

From a young age, she was just like her mother, or rather, under her mother's influence, both mother and daughter were kind-hearted and believed that good people would be rewarded.

She couldn't bear to see others in distress or embarrassment, nor could she bear to see anyone lose hope over something trivial.

Everyone encounters difficulties at times, especially here where tuition fees are paid. She had encountered this before, and whenever she saw it, she would lend money to help.

So she took the initiative to help Han Yi raise some tuition fees and gave them to the disciple who collected the money.

She's not someone with an overflowing sense of compassion, but if she hadn't seen it, it wouldn't have mattered. However, since it happened right in front of her and was within her power, it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand.

After leaving the courtyard, Sun Zheng took the booklet and excused himself, seemingly eager to practice the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm.

After Sun Zheng had walked away, Zhong Han gently left Han Yi with the words, "Consider it a loan to you; you can pay me back later."

She then turned and gracefully left. Han Yi watched her beautiful figure, his expression calm, but in his heart, he felt a sense of recognition and goodwill towards this senior sister he had just met.

This isn't about money; it's about his character.

Of course, the key point is that he genuinely can't come up with that money right now...

However, he kept this sentiment in his heart.

......

......

Nine-Bend Courtyard, the residence of the inner disciples.

At night, the oil lamps inside the house are bright, and as the night breeze carries moisture, the shadows cast on the walls change accordingly.

After having dinner at the dining hall, Han Yi returned to his room and took out the booklet he had obtained from Zhong Han during the day. He couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection). The true skill, the secret that could allow one to break through to the Grandmaster level, was now in his hands.

From Pingzhou to Yunzhou, he endured countless hardships along the way.

The demonic calamity in An'yan City, the battle with demons, the serious injuries on his body... After that, he met Fatty Zheng, Old Wang, and Tantai Xunzhen, and was chased and fled all the way until he arrived in Yunzhou.

He endured humiliation and trials within the Yuanmiao Sect, passing them step by step, experiencing countless hardships before finally obtaining the booklet.

Although it was only the first step into the true skill, it still gave me a real goal and hope.

He thought about many, many things, including his many friends and relatives: Bai Sanren, Qianxue, Li Feng, Huang Ze... and many more...

But these people may have simply lost contact, or they may be caught in the demonic calamity...

He dared not think too much about it. In this world where communication was completely underdeveloped, he had no hope of ever seeing these people again in this lifetime.

Thinking of this, a tear welled up in the corner of his eye, but it quickly disappeared.

He cannot be weak, nor can he back down.

Yunzhou is stable and peaceful, with a top-tier power, Yuanmiao Sect, suppressing everything. There are no demons, no monsters, and no chaos.

He wanted to further his studies, and if possible, he wanted to return to Anyan City, not for any other reason than revenge, and to save the place where he was born.

He must strive to become stronger.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, sat quietly and focused for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes. The weakness in his eyes had disappeared, leaving only a firm resolve.

He slowly turned the pages of the book in his hands.

The Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm is known for its soft yet powerful force, which is continuous and yielding. When mastered, the palm strike can be executed at varying speeds. When slow, it is graceful and elegant; when fast, it is as swift as lightning. It leaves no opening for the enemy to exploit and allows for attacks that are as fluid and unobstructed as a river, directly targeting weaknesses.

The booklet begins with hundreds of words detailing the power, characteristics, and various benefits of this skill, giving the impression that it is unparalleled in the world of martial arts.

Han Yi quickly skipped over the somewhat boastful introduction and looked at the main text.

"Clench both hands, close your eyes and meditate. Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and focus your mind on harmony..."

The first level of the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm is only the introductory stage. Therefore, the manual explains how to transform Qi and blood into strength and how to increase strength.

Transforming Qi and Blood into Power is an essential step for a martial artist to become a martial arts master. At this level, the original blood will differentiate into turbid blood with special power effects, and then be strengthened through cultivation.

Different martial arts techniques that involve entering a state of power will have different power effects.

The same applies to the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm. According to the manual, although different people have different constitutions and cultivate different Cold Yin Forces, they are generally inclined towards Yin. Therefore, Yin resources are needed as a catalyst, such as the Qionghua Fish provided by the Nine-Bend Academy.

"The first level... the environment should ideally be near a water source or in a cold, damp place... stimulate the qi and blood, using qi and blood as nourishment and the human body as a furnace. Internal consumption and external training, combined with the aid of digestion and absorption, allow the energy to spread throughout the extremities of the blood and qi. Once this energy has spread throughout the entire body and covered the surface, then it is considered complete..."

This Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm is indeed a true skill. Even at only the first level, the power cultivated is incredibly solid, integrated into one, and covers all the vital points of the body.

"Just as Senior Brother Zongwu said, the progress of true skill is solid and powerful, as if it were a whole, which cannot be compared with the loose strength of martial arts practiced in addition to other skills..." Although he has not yet truly entered the realm, Han Yi has already seen the real difference between true skill and those ordinary martial arts based solely on the concept of this martial art.

Although the Qianyang Gong he is currently learning has several characteristics such as rejuvenation and exorcism, when it is fully mastered, it can only allow the power to penetrate the body and cover the arms. There is no spare power to cover vital areas such as the chest, heart, and back.

That's where the gap lies.

In a fight between martial artists, if vital areas are not protected and cannot withstand the opponent's attacks, then even if your attack power is strong, it is useless if your vital areas are not protected.

After all, the human body is a delicate and fragile structure. If you hit a vital point, no matter how much force, how hard, or how solid you are in other areas, it will be useless.

The opponent can finish the job with a direct, fatal blow.

The true skill is different. Although the first level does not mention any powerful moves or secret techniques, the practice of taking hits first and protecting one's vital points undoubtedly greatly increases the margin for error.

"However, the initial step to mastering the first level is a bit troublesome..."

Han Yi frowned as he looked at the contents of the booklet.

The first level of the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm is the introductory stage. Without this introductory stage, it cannot be reflected on the control panel. Only after a basic grasp and familiarity with the body can one deduce and break through its limitations on the control panel.

However, if he wanted to enter the first level, the cultivation environment was not too difficult; he could just cultivate by the lake.

However, the catalyst, or negative resource, the Qionghua fish, is a troublesome problem; these things are not cheap.

Relying solely on the meager tuition fees and the pitiful monthly allowance, it would take more than a year to even begin to understand the basics.

If you want to speed things up, you have to spend money to buy it.

"Money...it seems I really need to think of a way..." Han Yi sighed.

Not only to buy extra pomfret, but also for next month's tuition, he had to find a way to earn some extra money.

"I can ask Huang Rong... She's a local, she knows the connections much better than I do. Perfect timing, I can also visit the library tomorrow..." Han Yi pondered for a moment and quickly arranged his itinerary for tomorrow. He wasn't planning to practice the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm yet.

One reason is the lack of a catalyst and resources.

Secondly, there were the few words that his senior sister Zhong Han had told him during the day: to cultivate the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm, he still needed to disperse his internal energy.

According to Zhong Han, the human body has a limited amount of innate vital blood, and most people can differentiate it up to three times. Therefore, true skill usually needs to be strengthened three times to be considered complete.

Han Yi has already occupied two slots for Yuan Blood Differentiation, so he must first disperse his power, remove the martial arts imprint, and restore his Yuan Blood before he can easily cultivate true skills.

In other words, even if Han Yi were to cultivate the Cold Yin Nine-Bend Palm now, he would be limited by his Qi and blood, and would only be able to cultivate it to the fourth level at most before becoming weak and unable to make any further progress.

This is the drawback of pursuing multiple disciplines.

"Let's go check out the library in the manor first..." He sighed. Successfully entering the inner courtyard was only the first step; the rest, one thing after another, was giving him a headache.

......

The next morning.

The faint sunlight filtered through the clouds, casting its rays onto the streets and alleys of Jingtianzhuang.

In front of a pavilion at Jingtian Manor.

"Is this the library?"

Han Yi stood on one side of the road at Huahu Villa, looking at the tall buildings in front of him, feeling somewhat speechless.

The eaves are grayish-green and upturned, and the main body is a large red wooden structure. On both sides of the entrance, there are several huge pillars for support.

This pavilion has three floors. The first floor is square, with a length and width of several tens of meters. The area decreases with each floor above it.

Regardless of the content of the books inside, judging from the size alone, it certainly ranks as the place with the largest collection of books among all the sects in Yunzhou, except for the Kaiyuan Miaozong.

However, its appearance is rather unbearable to look at.

The situation looked better from the front, but if you went around to the side or back, you could see that some of the room windows in the attic had been chewed up by insects, and some windows were even gone, leaving only dark holes. Through the holes, you could see dust flying in the sunlight.

What's most speechless is that this attic, which is only slightly larger and looks quite ordinary, has a plaque with several large characters written in a flamboyant style: "Golden House".

The three large characters were painted with gold paint, making it look extremely flashy.

Is the saying "There are houses of gold in books" the implied meaning?

Han Yi shook his head, saying that the name "Library Pavilion" was more natural to him.

"This place feels a bit unreliable... Oh well, let's go in and take a look, we're already here..." he comforted himself.

"It's been a long time since I've seen such a diligent disciple. Is this a newcomer?" At this moment, a little old man walked over from the library with his hands behind his back, swaying slightly.

He was wearing a loose black robe, his hair was gray, and he had a pipe in his mouth, but he didn't light it; he just pretended to take a few puffs.

Even so, Han Yi could smell the strong smell of smoke on him from several meters away.

"Greetings, senior." Han Yi clasped his hands in a gesture of respect.

Although this person looked completely lifeless, like an old man taking an early morning stroll, he dared not be negligent in front of elderly people.

What if you encounter a hidden master who loiters around the gate every day, waiting to show off his skills? If you offend him, wouldn't you miss out on a great opportunity?

"Don't call me senior, I'm just a doorman." The old man pursed his lips.

"You're too modest, senior." Han Yi's attitude became even more respectful.

Aren't all the powerful figures in stories like this? They do the lowest-level jobs, yet remain unknown. Besides, being able to guard such a central area as a library already speaks volumes.

Even if he himself is an ordinary person, perhaps there are powerful experts among his descendants who could have placed him here.

"Fine, whatever you want." The old man clicked his cigarette a few times, shook his head and said, "You're not a genius, nor have you had any extraordinary encounters, and I'm not some peerless master either. Alright, stop reading novels and fiction."

I just saw you were wearing the Nine-Bend Courtyard's uniform and wanted to ask you to ask your headmaster for a favor. The library repair fee, which was set at the end of last month, is due. It's been dragging on for so long! Of all the seven courtyards in Jingtian, your Nine-Bend Courtyard is the most procrastinating…”

So they came to ask for money...

Han Yi, his face dark, ignored everything and walked straight towards the door.

"The first floor is free, don't go any further up, everything up there costs money. And you don't look like a rich person..."

The old man was still chattering behind him, his voice faintly audible.

Unfortunately, Han Yi really couldn't refute it.

After all, the old man was right; he really didn't have any money on him...