The Way of the Morning

Shi Qijiang took half a step forward.

"Sect Leader Lu, I'm giving you ten more breaths."

Lu Guang gripped the sinister token tightly, his mind in turmoil, facing a choice he didn't want to make.

Suddenly! A voice rang in his ears.

"Your injury is not in your meridians."

Lu Guang's pupils suddenly contracted.

The voice didn't come from the crowd, nor did it vibrate the air; it was a soft whisper, as if it were right next to my ear and echoing in my heart.

Lu Guang felt a chill run down his spine; his first reaction wasn't surprise, but wariness.

"Ten." Shi Qijiang was still counting, the soldiers' boots were covered in mud.

The calm voice rose again.

"The light source is blocked; you've been neglecting it all these years."

Lamp pulse.

Few people in Teruno-mune even recognized those two characters.

When the Zhaoye Sect was established, the patriarch divided the Mountain Gate Lamp Method into two paths: the outer path was for cultivating the meridians, and the inner path was for nurturing the lamp meridians. When the sect reached the City Destroying Realm, the lamp meridians and the Mountain Gate Lamp became mutually supportive, which was the only way to sustain the Zhaoye Sect's lineage.

However, this path is too old and too high. Many disciples only remember the meridians and are unaware that there are also lamp meridians.

When Lu Guang broke through to the next level, he was injured at the very core of this technique, the Lamp Meridian.

For the past thirty years, he has been searching for medicine and doctors, going to Chengtian Prefecture, Fanshan in Xizhou, and the waters of Nanzhou, but the answer he received was always the same: he should take his time to recover.

Even after raising it to this day, it's still in this terrible state.

"Zhaohai, Dengting, Yinchi, Shaoque..."

The voice echoed in my heart, and the acupoints were quickly reported one by one.

"Go against the flow by three points, enter the main meridian, and enter the dantian from the lamp courtyard."

With each location reported, Lu Guang tightened his grip on his chest.

These are definitely not fabricated acupoints!

What's even stranger is that as soon as the sound fell, his acupoint immediately heated up, without any deviation.

After a few words were spoken, it was only a few breaths later.

The sound stopped, but the wind in front of the mountain gate continued to blow, and Shi Qijiang's countdown continued.

Lu Guang lowered his head and mentally went through the path of meridian circulation.

First, avoid the damaged meridians, then circle around from Dengting to Dantian, borrowing only three-tenths of the strength from Zhaohai, crossing Yinchi, and converging at Shaoque.

That's absurd.

but...

It will work!

The Zhaoye Sect's Bright Lamp Technique has been passed down for hundreds of years, and all the sect leaders of each generation have followed the orthodox path to light the lamp; no one has ever bypassed it.

It's not that no one thought of taking a detour, it's that no one dared to. If they took the wrong turn, at best the lights would be turned upside down, at worst their dantian would crack and their cultivation would be ruined.

But the path pointed out by the mysterious voice was too smooth.

When Lu Guang realized he only wanted to have sex with her once, the pent-up anger that had been building up in his chest for twenty years eased a little.

It's like a road is broken, and everyone is busy repairing it, but it's still difficult to restore it. Then someone comes along and says there's another main road on the other side. Everyone runs over and finds that there is indeed a new road, and it's even wider and smoother than the original one.

Lu Guang swallowed hard. The ghost-faced token in his sleeve was still cold, but this time the chill couldn't penetrate any further. He closed his palm and pressed the token down; he no longer needed it.

"Sect Leader Lu, three breaths." Shi Qijiang counted to the end.

The soldiers began to draw their swords, but the blades had only been drawn half an inch from their sheaths when Zhaoyezong's side also made a move.

"Don't move!"

Lu Guang spoke, silencing all other noises.

The disciples of Zhaoye Sect immediately stopped, while the guards were a beat slower and were also stopped by Shi Qijiang.

Shi Qijiang stared at him: "Have you thought it through?"

"I've made up my mind."

Lu Guang supported himself on the table with one hand and slowly stood up straight.

There was still blood at the corner of his mouth and on his clothes. His face showed signs of aging, but his back was gradually straightening up.

Everyone was looking at him, and apart from the gray-clad figure, no one knew what had happened.

Lu Guang stood there, slowly closing his eyes.

Instead of nourishing his energy along the old meridians, he followed the instructions and drew a wisp of vital energy from the edge of his dantian, letting it sink below Tianheng.

pain.

He clenched his fists in pain.

But this time, the pain wasn't completely blocked.

The vital energy bypassed the old wounds and turned into the left lamp courtyard, like a dull knife slowly prying open a door bolt that had been rusted shut for many years.

Lu Guang's blue cloth robe billowed without wind, and the flame of the first stone lamp on the mountain path shot upwards.

Then came the second and the third lamps.

The disciples of Zhaoye Sect were stunned. Some of the younger disciples rubbed their eyes, as if afraid they had misread it.

"The light...the light is on?"

The elder stood below the stage, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word for a long time.

He had followed Lu Guang for decades and knew all too well the sect leader's injury. This injury weighed heavily on the Zhaoye Sect, putting it in a near-death situation that no one could resolve. The mountain gate lamps were connected to the sect leader; although they hadn't been extinguished, they had been dimly lit for years. And now, they were actually lit?!

Hu Yanshan's expression changed as he watched from below the stage. What could have made a City Destruction Realm cultivator reopen their aura?

Thinking of this, he subconsciously looked towards the edge of the crowd.

The man in gray was still standing there, his expression unchanged.

"Boom—"

A muffled rumble of thunder reverberated through Lu Guang's body, and the breath that had been trapped in his chest and abdomen for thirty years finally released.

Lu Guang opened his eyes, but instead of looking at Shi Qijiang, he looked at the crowd.

Although it was still unclear which expert had helped him, he still raised his hand and bowed respectfully to the audience from afar. The bow was not deep, but it was solemn enough.

"I will thank you again later, senior."

The soldiers didn't know who he was worshipping, nor did the disciples of the Zhaoye sect, and the common people knew even less.

Shi Qijiang's expression changed, and he also glanced at the crowd.

senior?

How many people in Beiyang Prefecture could earn such a public address from someone like Lu Guang as a senior?

No! How many are there in the entire Yan Kingdom?

At this moment, Lu Guang had already turned around, and his aura changed.

One by one, the lanterns at the mountain gate were raised, their light illuminating his shoulders. His blood-soaked blue robe finally exuded the fortitude befitting a sect leader.

"Lu Guang, are you just trying to create a mystery?"

Shi Qijiang stopped laughing.

Lu Guang took a step forward, crushing the broken stone slabs under his feet into powder.

"Didn't Your Excellency just ask whether to relocate the sect or annihilate it? I'll ask you the same question now. Shi Qijiang, are you going back on your own, or will I send you back with my own whip?"

Upon hearing these words, the disciples of the Zhaoye Sect felt a surge of anger rising in their chests.

The elder clenched his fist and cursed, "That feels good!"

Behind Shi Qijiang, several clerks turned pale, and the soldiers also became flustered.

Shi Qijiang, being the Prefectural Governor, quickly regained his composure.

Looking at the lights behind Lu Guang, and then at the renewed anger in Lu Guang's eyes, he understood that the situation that had been firmly under control today had gone wrong.

But he cannot back down.

We can't just back down like this.

If he backs down, he will suffer a loss instead of gain, and the momentum that Beiyang Prefecture has been suppressing Zhaoyezong for ten years will be cut off today.

Shi Qijiang flicked the hem of his official robe backward, releasing his vital energy once more: "I have heard that Sect Master Lu has been at the breakthrough realm for many years, and I have long wanted to learn from him."

Lu Guang smiled, but there was a hint of blood in his smile.

"What a coincidence."

He reached out and beckoned.

Above the mountain gate, an axe came flying from the back mountain. The handle was thick and black, and the blade was broad and thick. When it landed in Lu Guang's palm, the entire stone platform sank down.

"I have heard that Your Excellency is a disciple of the Grand Secretary, and I have long admired the Grand Secretary."

Lu Guang raised his axe, "I'd like to learn from you today."