Chapter 185:

Lu Yanbei frowned, then stood up tall and walked towards the military training ground in front of everyone’s eyes, step by step. Lu Yanbei didn’t like Qiao Mu, but he would still cooperate. Facing the eager gaze of the audience below, he hid his dissatisfaction and smiled. "Elder Lao has good insight, knowing my skills." "You may already know that in Jiu Province, I am known as the ‘Wooden Sword Walker,’ trained in swordsmanship by the legendary Earth Sword Immortal." "I am already eighty-seven years old this year, practicing Brother Qiao’s ancient method of martial arts. Today, I will learn Brother Qiao’s modern method." After saying this, the entire audience became focused and attentive. Lu Yanbei, a well-known martial arts expert in Jiu Province who has been fighting in this lonely city for a year, has gained great fame both in Jiu Province and within this city. These words were spoken to let the people know about his abilities, and also directed at Qiao Mu. He explained his age clearly, deliberately mentioning that he practiced an ancient method, which actually meant hinting that he would cooperate with Qiao Mu in acting. Qiao Mu also clenched his fist and solemnly said: "I am Qiao Shuangsen, aged 109, and my wise nephew is 22 years old." Wise… wise nephew? Lu Yanbei’s eye twitched slightly as he looked at Qiao Mu’s solemn expression. In theory, if Qiao Mu really is 109 years old, there is no problem with the twenty-something age difference and calling him a wise nephew. But is he really 109 years old? Lu Yanbei had his doubts. Life at seventy is rare in ancient times, let alone in this era of widespread famine. In the entire Jiu Province, centenarians are extremely rare. A normal centenarian who can walk without a cane and rely on themselves is likely to attract the attention of local officials who would come to ask for tips on longevity. And what about Qiao Mu? This person may look old, but the light skill he just showed is quite extraordinary, definitely not like someone in their hundreds. If it is a true hundred years of age with unimpaired vitality… Lu Yanbei can only think of one person, the Grandmaster of the Long Life Fist from the Qiao Family in Heyang City a century ago. That Grandmaster was actually so remarkable that he caught the attention of the Great Yan Emperor at that time and was summoned to the palace to teach martial arts. However, the Qiao Mu in front of them clearly hasn’t reached that level. His appearance is full of signs of old age, with wrinkles and loose skin. This is clearly a normal decline in old age and a decline in vitality. So there is only one answer. Are you still pretending to be a 109-year-old? I know your background, Captain Hai has already informed me. Lu Yanbei thought to himself, but then pulled out a wooden sword from his waist with his right hand… His left arm was injured, but it wouldn’t matter much in a arena match. "Wooden sword?" Qiao Mu wondered. "Brother Qiao can rest assured," smiled Lu Yanbei. "I am known as Wooden Sword Walker in the martial arts world. Even an ordinary wooden sword in my hands is not inferior to a typical treasure sword." "Oh," Qiao Mu said, and he inserted the long spear he had just taken out into the ground in front of him, raising his fists in a defensive position. "I don’t want to take advantage of you, so how about I fight barehanded?" Qiao Mu said. Bullying the small with the big? Lu Yanbei took two deep breaths, his chest rising and falling continuously. Since he turned sixty, no one dared to talk to him like that… He didn’t want to speak anymore in case it would ruin his image. He immediately grabbed his wooden sword and rushed forward. He originally wanted to cooperate with Qiao Mu in acting, but unexpectedly this old man had no manners and didn’t understand how to respect the elderly, so he decided to show off his power. As he swung his wooden sword, strands of green sword light burst out, forming a lotus of sword light that enveloped Qiao Mu’s position. Lu Yanbei’s swordsmanship has reached the level of ‘unrivalled wooden sword,’ which means he has reached the pinnacle in sword moves and also possesses powerful internal strength. Even though he wields a wooden sword, with the support of his strong internal strength, it is no different from an ordinary treasure sword. S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Lu Yanbei seems to be an experienced swordsman." Storyteller Clairvoyance’s eyes lit up, as arena duels were his favorite occasion: "Mortal beings will eventually grow old, and it’s natural for their vitality to decline. The saying ‘fists fear the young’ applies even to legendary martial artists. As they reach old age, their physical strength and speed will inevitably weaken compared to their prime." "However, the accumulation of internal strength and sword skills will continue to grow stronger with age…" Storyteller Clairvoyance was preparing to talk about Lu Yanbei, but unexpectedly, Lu Yanbei’s amazing sword skills were displayed in the martial arts arena, only hitting a shadow. In an instant, Qiao Mu lightly tapped his toes, his figure blur into a shadow, swiftly gliding across the ground and appearing behind Lu Yanbei. "Hmm?" Lu Yanbei frowned slightly and turned around, striking with his sword, but only hitting another shadow. Light body movement? No… Not just simple light body movement, it’s like dancing on the tip of a knife, more agile in small-scale dodging and shifting. What Qiao Mu showed at this moment was not only his skill in light body movement, but also pure speed. Lu Yanbei furrowed his brows, swinging his wooden sword again. A green sword light enveloped the surroundings, and the strong energy dispersed with the sword light, creating deep grooves on the ground of the practice field. However, his sword still swung through empty air. Qiao Mu seemed to have no intention of engaging him directly. He kept dodging with astonishing speed, avoiding close combat. This didn’t seem like a clash between two elderly martial artists, confusing Clairvoyance and other martial artists in the city. The clash between the two elderly masters, as they imagined it, should be like the pushing hands of Tai Chi, comparing the abundance of their internal strength and the heights of their martial arts skills. Lu Yanbei also became a bit impatient. As a martial arts expert who ranks 30th on the Tide Listening BuildingSkill List, he is exceptionally skilled in sword techniques and possesses a deep inner strength accumulated over many years. However, Qiao Mu relies solely on his physical speed, avoiding direct confrontation with him, making it difficult for his sword techniques to shine, no matter how advanced they are. "If all you do is dodge, what’s the point of competing?" Lu Yanbei couldn’t help but say. "What competition? Surely no one actually thinks we are competing?" Qiao Mu was taken aback, his figure flickering quickly and his voice coming from all directions. "I am merely showcasing the enduring power of the ‘Xumi Mountain King Sutra.’" "At the age of 109, if my power endures, not only can I move swiftly, but my physical speed is also on par with a young and strong martial artist." He had no intention of competing with Lu Yanbei, instead randomly selecting a lucky audience member to assist him in performing acrobatics, demonstrating something that a hundred-year-old person theoretically couldn’t achieve. Lu Yanbei：…. He had to admire the other person’s acting skills, thinking to himself, "Where did Captain Hai find such an experienced actor?" Qiao Mu’s physical speed is very fast, so the faster he shows it, the less likely he is to be 109 years old. After all, which hundred-year-old person in any family would not spend their days lying in a rocking chair, but instead go up on a stage to compete in speed? Lu Yanbei guessed that Qiao Mu probably used some kind of advanced disguise technique, and his real identity should be a young and skilled martial artist. "However, what my wise nephew said does make some sense." Qiao Mu suddenly stopped moving while he was in rapid motion. He was indeed putting on a performance. But just relying on pure speed to dodge is not good enough. In this moment, because of his swift running in the martial arts arena, the sand under his feet was kicked up, engulfing the surroundings in a cloud of dust, making it difficult for Lu Yanbei to see Qiao Mu’s expression on his face. "Hmm?" Lu Yanbei suddenly felt a shock in his heart. In that moment, his inner feeling suddenly sensed a strong feeling of danger, which was the first time since they started fighting. He underestimated him… Lu Yanbei’s eyes became sharp in an instant, abandoning his previous underestimate. He rushed forward, the wooden sword in his hand once again bursting with a green lotus sword light, enveloping Qiao Mu in an instant of hesitation. And Qiao Mu remained motionless. Despite being a hundred years old, his vitality was not weakened, not weaker than when he was in his prime. This meant that his physical body was strong, his reflexes and speed much faster than the opponent. In Qiao Mu’s eyes at this moment, the sword in Lu Yanbei’s hand seemed to be in slow motion. In this fleeting moment, he simply lifted his head. Facing the wooden sword slashing down from above, he unleashed a radiant blue lotus-shaped sword light. Looking straight at the dust scattered in the practice area being split apart by the sword light, causing the dust to scatter in all directions. He clenched his fist. His whole body emitted a strong inner energy, and white air, as thick as fingers, covered the surroundings. His robe fluttered without wind, and even the scattered sand dust on the martial arts arena was blown away by the released energy. Lu Yanbei’s pupils suddenly shrank. At the age of eighty-seven, he had been practicing martial arts since he was young. In his old age, when his vitality declined, he could only rely on the abundant inner energy he had cultivated since childhood to compensate for the weakness of his physical strength. But at this moment, Qiao Mu’s abundant inner energy seemed to be twice as strong as his. He had accumulated this inner energy for sixty or seventy years, and he had never slacked off in his practice… Why could Qiao Mu’s inner energy be twice as abundant as his? Because reaching the 4th rank was already the limit of practice, further progress in accumulating inner energy was like polishing, and the amount of inner energy often indicated the number of years spent in martial arts training… So what was this old monster in front of him? Did he start practicing martial arts when he was still in the womb? There was no time to think. In the blink of an eye, he saw Qiao Mu’s fists tighten gradually. The powerful white internal strength emanated from within him and gathered in his fists. "Ripple Stacking Wave Strength, like a stack of waves." With a punch, he struck first with incredible speed. The white stream of internal strength in Qiao Mu’s hand surged out like rushing waves, crashing against the green sword light. Lu Yanbei’s wooden sword trembled, and the green sword light became unstable. "Double Wave." The second wave of strength erupted, like two waves crashing together, forming a higher wave. The green sword light was quickly shattered, and his wooden sword nearly slipped from his hand. "Triple Wave." The immense internal strength surged like waves, with the potential to be as powerful as a roaring sea and a howling mountain, engulfing Lu Yanbei instantly. There was a loud boom. A visible shockwave disrupted the sandy arena, causing Lu Yanbei’s body to fly backwards like a kite with a broken string. When he finally came to a stop, his first reaction was to stare blankly at the wooden sword in his hand. The wooden sword in his hand shattered with a loud crash, leaving only a broken hilt in his grip. This was a display of martial arts in the arena, not a fight to the death, so in the end, Qiao Mu still held back… Looking up, he noticed a newly formed pit several meters away from where he had been standing. Standing before the pit was an old man with wrinkled face, calmly exhaling and putting his hands down. There was still invisible energy swirling around him, and the lingering waves of energy brushed against the surroundings, stirring up the dust in the arena. Lu Yanbei blurted out, "The amount of internal strength cannot deceive people. This is a skill that can only be accumulated over many years. Are you really a hundred and nine-year-old elder?" If Lu Yanbei felt that Qiao Mu was a little strange before, now he had a definite conclusion in his heart. After reaching the 4th rank of training, martial artists can further progress by practicing the 3rd rank Spiritual Refining Method. The so-called spiritual refining is the refinement of one’s mind and willpower. When the body and mind become strong, one’s intuition becomes sharp and can predict the enemy’s moves. Therefore, even if the physical strength and internal strength of a Spirit Refining martial artist are similar to that of a 4th rank martial artist, they can still dominate the latter and gain the upper hand in a fight by relying on their keen intuition. It can be said that the pursuit of the 3rd rank Spiritual Refining Method is not purely about destructive power and speed, but also about achieving a strong body and sharp intuition through a different path. And the Qiao Mu who just fought him… No, it’s not just a simple hundred-year-old elder. "This… This isn’t Spiritual Refining Method at all! Are you still stuck at the training level?" Lu Yanbei exclaimed, filled with doubt. "That’s right." Qiao Mu stood with his hands behind his back and said slowly: "This is the martial arts of Jiu Province forty years later, the so-called modern method." He turned his head and looked at the soldiers and civilians gathered around the demonstration field. "With a strong body and unyielding vitality, this is the cutting-edge martial arts of Jiu Province today, the《Xumi Mountain King Sutra》that anyone can practice." "If your punches are not strong, how can you defeat the immortals?" His voice was full of strength, not at all like a hundred-year-old man. His voice echoed through the military camp, reverberating all around. Lu Yanbei looked at this old man with a determined presence, feeling a mix of emotions: three parts disappointment, three parts confusion, and four parts genuine joy from within. His disappointment and confusion came from his devastating defeat in the martial arts competition. To their delight… Qiao Mu really had accumulated internal strength for a hundred years. Is he really a 109-year-old man? Could it be that the "Xumi Mountain King Sutra" is not fake after all? This means that a glimmer of hope has shone on the martial arts world of Jiu Province, which has been enveloped in darkness. In this duel, Lu Yanbei, who was once a renowned martial arts master, suffered a miserable defeat. This is a confrontation in the world of martial arts throughout history. It represents the old man’s shortcomings and the progress of the younger generation! "I think I understand now," Lu Yanbei said with a bitter smile. "It’s not the Qiao Shuangsen in front of me who has been acting this whole time, he’s speaking the truth." Lu Yanbei looked over at a corner of the crowd and saw Hai Siyuan, who had a confused expression on his face. "Captain Hai, how did someone with such thick eyebrows and big eyes like you end up acting?"