Chapter Twenty-Five: The Union of Dragon and Tiger

The martial arts arena in Li Village is vast, yet it retains a distinctly archaic feel. The ground is made of packed earth and stone rather than the modern rubber flooring popular today. While the Li Group certainly has the resources to install the latter, Li Changqing simply dislikes it. According to him, standing on soil and stone allows one to be better nourished by the earth’s energy.

Despite the traditional surface, the spacious rooms surrounding the arena are filled with advanced equipment for testing strength, speed, and reflexes, along with heavy-duty devices for monitoring life force. Of course, no life force monitoring equipment can compare to Li Qi’s personal panel; its insights are the most precise, far surpassing any technology.

When Li Qi arrived, a crowd had already gathered on the arena floor, watching the old man practice his blade technique. The blade in the old man’s hand was similar in shape to the wooden practice sword Li Qi used, but it was at least five times larger—looking like a door panel at a glance—and incredibly heavy. To Li Qi’s knowledge, it weighed a full five hundred pounds.

One must understand that lifting five hundred pounds and wielding a five hundred-pound blade are two entirely different concepts. In his past life, weightlifting champions could lift nearly half a ton, or one thousand pounds, but if asked to wield a twenty-pound blade, they would be exhausted after only a few swings. Yet, in the old man's hands, this quarter-ton blade moved as lightly as a sheet of paper—he held the heavy as if it were nothing.

This is "Entering the Dao." This is what it truly means! If "Entering the Realm" still constitutes a mortal, then "Entering the Dao" marks the point where one has truly ceased to be human. With a five-hundred-pound blade in motion, the explosive power it generates is terrifying. Before such a force, any armor or protective gear is merely a joke.

Of course, not every practitioner of the Dao is this formidable. In his prime, the old man was already approaching the level of a "True Person," only hindered by a flaw in his spirit that he could not overcome.

The old man was practicing the first thirteen moves of the Tiger-Slayer Eighteen Blades. As for the final five moves, Li Qi had seen them in his childhood, but not in recent years. This was because the murderous intent of the final five moves was ten, even a hundred times that of the first thirteen. This blade technique begins with the tiger, but it culminates in the *sha*—the killing intent. The names of the final five moves are, quite literally, five characters for "kill."

Beyond these five killing moves, Li Qi had also witnessed the three ultimate techniques derived from this blade art:
Blade One: The Mountain Pass is Hard to Cross!
Blade Two: Strangers Meeting by Chance!
Blade Three: Time Turns, Leaving Only Regret!

Even now, those three blades remain vividly etched in Li Qi’s memory.

"The Mountain Pass is Hard to Cross, who pities the lost traveler?" This blade was a reflection of the old man’s youth. Caught in chaotic times, drifting with the tide, he had to flee his home just to survive. Without education or skills, he relied on three scraps of a technique found by chance. He worked as a gang lackey by day and practiced bitterly by night, seeing neither hope nor a future.

"Strangers Meeting by Chance, all are guests in a foreign land!" This blade reflected his middle years—stumbling forward, finally carving out a path to survival and achieving a measure of success, yet still lonely and drifting.

As for "Time Turns, Leaving Only Regret," it spoke of half a life wasted. Looking back, there was nothing but regret and hatred. These sentiments were written into the family records and the manual itself, yet without personal experience, one could never grasp the inner state or the bitterness behind the words, and thus could never wield those blades.

Li Qi clearly remembered the old man saying, when he was very young, that those three blades were only for reference and should not be learned. "Those who mimic me live, those who become me die. The eighteen blades are already the limit; everyone must find their own path."

Li Qi’s arrival went unnoticed by the young people sitting around. There were too many members of the Li clan, and aside from Li Tianxing and the rising Li Youan, most lacked presence—let alone Li Qi, who had always been invisible.

The snow on the arena had been cleared, and the ground was dry. Li Qi found a spot nearby, sat down, and watched intently, sensing every movement of the old man. As the creator of the art, the old man’s personal demonstration was peerless. It was entirely different from watching a video or recalling a memory; those were distorted, lacking the spiritual essence and the immediate intensity of the scene. The sharper one’s spirit and the stronger one’s mind, the more profound and vast the experience became.

At this moment, Li Qi was fully immersed. His "Insight into Truth" was pushed to its limit, causing the world in his eyes to slow down. The sky, the earth, and the people began to fade away, leaving only the blade—the sweeping, intersecting blade light. It twisted like a dragon and a tiger, and as they converged, they evolved into a Golden Elixir.

Unknowingly, Li Changqing had performed the final five moves as well. These moves were not just about killing intent; they were the dragon—the *sha* dragon, the blood dragon, the killing dragon! Dragon and tiger joined, the Golden Elixir appeared, and the "True Person" was formed. This blade art, it turned out, possessed the aura of a True Person.

Watching it now, Li Qi realized his previous superficiality. He had not truly understood what he had been learning. It was not until the light of the blade vanished that Li Qi finally snapped back to reality, though the image of the blade seemed to linger in his vision for several minutes.

*Log: You have observed the blade art and gained deep enlightenment. Your cultivation speed for the Tiger-Slayer Eighteen Blades will be significantly increased until you reach Level 7.*

"Insight into Truth" had triggered!

"I am old. A single demonstration and I am already winded. I am not what I once was..." Li Changqing said, his face flushed, leaning on his blade. The tip of the massive weapon touched the ground; it looked as if he were leaning on it, but he was actually holding its weight, for otherwise, five hundred pounds would have surely pierced the floor.

"Li Qi, I remember you. You are the child of the fifth branch. You were the one I mentioned a few days ago."

"I previously thought you were of mediocre talent, but it seems you have had an epiphany. Your martial wisdom has manifested. Seeing you today, I find your inner foundation is pure. You are single-minded, and you have finally achieved something. While not a genius, your purity is your strength. In the future, you may well reach the Dao!"

Li Changqing possessed a powerful discernment. A person’s "root foundation" is something even masters struggle to glimpse. And he was spot on. Li Qi’s five roots all shared the same effect—how could they not be pure? In this world, there was likely no one with a purer foundation than his. As for being "shallow," his four white and one grey roots were indeed not profound, but his "Intent Root" was hidden too deeply; even a Saint might only catch a glimpse, and for those merely Entering the Dao, it was far beyond reach.

Li Changqing spoke calmly, but to those around him, it sounded like a thunderclap. This was, after all, a prediction of reaching the Dao! The last person to receive such praise from Li Changqing was Li Tianxing.

Entering the Realm and Entering the Dao seemed only a step apart, but in reality, the gap was greater than that between an Emperor and a Crown Prince.

The crowd was stunned. They had never even heard of Li Qi. When had such a formidable figure emerged in their family? Furthermore, Li Changqing’s words solved the mystery of who that person at the ancestral hall had been. They had guessed for days, yet no one had come close.

In the crowd, Li Youan’s expression was strange and complex. For the past few days, he had been certain that person was him. As for Li Qi—who was this person? He had never even heard the name.

"Li Qi, come. Go over there and try. Let me see what your blade art is worth!" Li Changqing pointed to a large room nearby, where a device for testing the force and speed of blade strikes was kept. He had not intended to reveal Li Qi so soon, but seeing him today, he knew there was no longer a need for concealment. The time had come.