Becoming a Sage Starts From Condensing the Essence of Time

An Le arrived at the Martial Arts Hall. Lin Qingyin and Lin Zhuifeng were already waiting for him, but they were not impatient at all. Liu Xiang, the maidservant, should have come to tell them that An Le had been invited by Madam Hua.

"Sir."

Upon seeing An Le, Lin Qingyin and Lin Zhuifeng bowed together.

Now that An Le was teaching them how to sketch, Lin Qingyin treated him with the respect of a disciple. Lin Zhuifeng had also learned from Lin Qingyin.

An Le greeted them with a smile and began to prepare the tools to start drawing today.

Lin Zhuifeng and Lin Qingyin followed him to learn drawing. After learning for a while, Lin Zhuifeng lost interest. She took out her fire stick and pulled the Eighth Young Master to practice martial arts.

Lin Qingyin, on the other hand, was a fast learner. A woman's mind was meticulous and graceful, and she had already gained some insight into the lines and the light and darkness. The only thing she lacked was the composition.

While An Le was painting, he also absorbed the Age Qi from Lin Zhuifeng, Lin Qingyin, and the two lucky young masters who were randomly selected.

Including Fairy Yun Rou, the maximum number of people he could absorb every day was still five, but because of the increase in her Spirit Refinement cultivation, the number of wisps he absorbed at a time was increased, so he absorbed a total of fifteen wisps of Age Qi.

The only regret was that there was no trace of Molten Gold Age Qi.

An Le, on the other hand, looked carefree. He was not vexed that he did not draw the Molten Gold Age Qi.

Soon, the red glow spread out into the sky and covered the setting sun.

In the evening, An Le bathed in the sunset and left the Lin Residence. He was relaxed and content as he went to the wine house on Imperial Street to get a jar of old yellow wine.

He did not know if the old man in the Imperial Ancestral Temple would come tonight, but it was always right to prepare yellow wine in case of emergencies.

After getting some wine and cutting up half a catty of pig head meat, he walked towards Qingbo Street and bumped into someone he knew.

It was none other than the constable of the Black Office, Huang Xian.

An Le smiled as his mind raced. If the seniors in the Imperial Ancestral Temple had not come, he could have drunk to his heart's content with Constable Huang.

However, Huang Xian had a blade at his waist and a worried look on his face. When he saw An Le, he forced a smile. "Young Master An, have you finished work at the Lin Residence?"

An Le nodded. "Constable Huang is frowning. Could it be that my painting didn't work?"

Constable Huang hurriedly waved his hand. "Young Master An, you're mistaken. Your painting is extremely good. We've also grasped Hu Jingang's traces. Unfortunately, Hu Jingang is too cunning and we let him escape. We're pursuing him now. We'll definitely be able to capture him very quickly."

An Le heaved a sigh of relief.

It was good that his paintings were useful. As for the escape of the bandit, it was a helpless matter. It could only be said that the constables of the Black Office still needed to work harder in their business.

"Actually, we've already locked down Hu Jingang's location. He should have nowhere to escape to, but he suddenly disappeared. It's really strange. I need to report back to the Black Office and come back to drink with Young Master An another day."

Constable Huang sighed and cupped his fists.

Originally, he thought that he would be able to easily capture the bandit Hu Jingang. However, he did not expect that an accident would happen. Naturally, he felt regretful.

An Le returned the gesture.

The two of them passed each other. One went to the Black Office, and the other returned to Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley.

An Le returned to the small courtyard and watered the plants under the sunset. Since he had promised the woman, An Le would naturally do it. Moreover, cultivating flowers and plants was also a matter of tempering one's emotions.

He set up a small table and chair in the courtyard, placed old yellow wine and sliced pig head meat. He waited for a while, but the old man in the Imperial Ancestral Temple did not come.

An Le was not in a hurry. He closed his eyes and a light screen appeared.

...

[Name: An Le]

[Age Qi: 29 wisps]

[Age Dao Fruit: Thousand-Year Genius (Molten Gold Age Qi 0/2 wisps, 0/100 wisps), Sword Dancer (0/10), Fearless Heart, Demon Tempering Treasure Jade]

[Cultivation Technique: Sword Waterfall Diagram (0 wisp), Qi Drawing Breathing Technique (1 wisp)]

[Skill: Five Animals Body Tempering Technique (3 wisps), Zhao Zu's Long Fist (Incomplete) (1 wisp)]

...

The accumulation of Age Qi had already reached 29 wisps, which was quite abundant. An Le began to think about how to sort and distribute it.

First of all, there was naturally no need to add Age Qi to the "Qi Drawing Breathing Technique" and the common "Zhao Zu's Long Fist". An Le placed his attention on the "Sword Waterfall Diagram" and "Five Animals Body Tempering Technique".

"The Sword Waterfall Diagram is a top-notch Spirit Refinement technique passed down by Madam Hua. With the Sword Dancer Dao Fruit complementing it, the speed of improvement is quite fast. Although the 'Five Animals Body Tempering Technique' isn't top-notch, it contains killing intent besides Body Tempering. It's the only killing method I have mastered."

"Therefore, the Age Qi will first be used on the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique and the Sword Dancer Dao Fruit."

"The [Thousand-Year Genius] Dao Fruit requires a hundred wisps of Age Qi. It also needs to be supplemented with two wisps of Molten Gold Age Qi that can transform into Dao Fruits. Therefore, it has a lower priority in upgrading for now."

"Therefore, I'll first raise the [Sword Dancer] Dao Fruit to the next stage. It can assist in the comprehension of the [Sword Waterfall Diagram] and won't delay the improvement of the Five Animals Body Tempering." An Le sorted out the distribution of the Age Qi.

He did as he said. Without any hesitation, he willed it.

Strands of Age Qi were added to the [Sword Dancer] Dao Fruit.

In front of him, the gray Age Qi burned like an incense stick, and images appeared bit by bit. There were scenes of Fairy Yun Rou's sword technique breaking through, Lin Zhuifeng's Qi Blood flourishing, beating up all the young masters of the same generation in Lin Residence with a fire stick, and so on.

After ten wisps of Age Qi were used, An Le felt the small sword of consciousness condensed in his Niwan Palace tremble slightly and emit joy.

Suddenly, it was as if a sword light flashed past his eyes!

It condensed into words!

[Dao begets one, one begets two. Time flows but the ages remain eternal. The Dao Fruit has metamorphosed.]

[The sound of the river boils, the sword qi grows, the Sword Dancer evolves, and the Innate Swordsman is born.]

[Sword Dancer Dao Fruit has evolved into Innate Swordsman!]

[Note: Innate Swordsman (Dao Fruit): The sword of the world is invincible. When holding a sword, it can resonate with sword qi and increase the sharpness of the sword.]

What was an Innate Swordsman?

A debt of gratitude must be repaid in time. How could it be afraid? When the divine sword rushed into the sky, who would be able to quell injustice?

To use the sword to raise one's heart, clear one's intentions, and achieve great aspirations was to become a swordsman!

An Le took a deep breath and observed his evolved Dao Fruit.

[Age Dao Fruit: Innate Swordsman (Molten Gold Age Qi 0/2 wisps, 0/100 wisps)]

As expected, the conditions for a Dao Fruit to undergo another evolution were similar to that of a Thousand-Year Genius.

It would not be so easy to evolve it.

However, An Le did feel something different. His understanding of the Sword Waterfall Diagram seemed to be deeper, and countless sword qi scattered down from the nine heavens. In the Niwan Palace, the sword qi was as resplendent as the stars!

An Le felt an unparalleled sense of familiarity with the sword.

The only pity was that up until now, he hadn't had a sword that belonged to him.

The evening light shone on the courtyard, and the shadow of the old pagoda tree was pulled long and narrow.

An Le, who was sitting upright with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes. He opened his mouth and spat out a sharp breath that seemed to cut through the air.

He poured himself a glass of yellow wine and drank it.

Then, he stood up and injected a wisp of Age Qi into the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique. In the courtyard, under the old locust tree, he trained and practiced the Tiger Form.

After practicing once, he would add a wisp of Age Qi. Every time, he would have a different understanding!

The Five Animals Body Tempering became more and more profound, and his control over every detail became more and more exquisite.

In the deep-slanted pavilion, it was as if flowers were scattered all over his clothes!

In the small courtyard, under the locust tree, a young man was wearing a multicolored robe and a jade pendant at his waist. The gray patterns on the white jade were boiling and demon qi tempered his body!

The Five Animals Body Tempering Technique had a total of 15 wisps of Age Qi added, but it could still continue to be augmented. It was like a bottomless pit with no upper limit.

Qi Blood evaporated as the youth practiced the Five Animals. Force grew in his meridians and constantly pushed his Qi Blood to flow throughout his body!

Vaguely, his Qi Blood had already reached the late-stage and was charging towards the perfected-stage.

The sun was setting in the west, and the world was completely dark.

The Five Animals that the youth had practiced had completely stepped into the perfected-stage first realm of Body Tempering after being augmented with 15 wisps of Age Qi!

The clamor in the courtyard gradually stopped, and the starlight scattered behind the sunset clouds and sprinkled on the mortal world.

...

...

When the moon sets, crows cry and frost fills the sky.

Qingbo Street, in front of Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley.

A luxurious carriage rolled over the limestone slowly. A burly coachman sat on the shaft. Beside the coachman was a thin man in a bamboo hat and a black robe. He held a thick saber and was gently wiping it.

"Will the benefactor keep his word? If I kill this youth in the alley, will he help me leave Lin'an Prefecture safely?"

Under the thin man's bamboo hat, a voice slowly sounded from his face that was swallowed by the darkness.

"The benefactor's words naturally carry great weight. Even if you bear many sins of killing, if the benefactor lets you live, you can naturally live."

The coachman sat on the shaft of the carriage and pulled the reins. He replied expressionlessly.

"Heh, interesting… In the eyes of benefactors, human lives are really mixed. A young man's life is worth the lives in my hands. That artist's painting almost made the Black Office capture me. If not for your help, I might have been captured."

The man in the bamboo hat jumped down from the carriage and picked up the thick saber.

"Therefore, you came to kill this young man because you wanted to take revenge." The coachman said calmly.

The man in the bamboo hat looked into the depths of the alley.

Where the starlight could not reach, it was as dark as an abyss.

The man grinned. With the saber on his shoulders, he slowly took a step forward. Boundless Qi Blood intertwined like a heat wave stirred up by a furnace of wind.

"I also hate this artist."

"I'm happy to kill him!"