Chapter Three: The Twin Dragons’ Supreme Art

“Disciple Luo Hao pays his respects to Master!” Luo Hao knelt solemnly on the ground, bowing deeply to the disheveled old man in a formal ceremony of apprenticeship.

The old man gazed at Luo Hao, who was kneeling before him, and thought to himself that although this little fellow was a bit unruly, his character was to the old man’s liking. Clearly, he was someone who understood the importance of respecting his teacher and the traditions of the school.

In truth, Luo Hao knew well that by becoming this scruffy old man’s disciple today, his fate would be forever entwined with his master’s. From all the dramas and novels he had read, he understood that everyone regarded their sect’s inheritance with utmost seriousness—after all, “the law is not lightly passed to outsiders.”

“Alright, get up, boy. Since you’ve entered my school, I’ll first tell you the sect’s rules,” the old man said languidly, taking a deep swig of wine.

“Sure enough, there’s no escaping rules and regulations. Well, I’ll just listen for now,” Luo Hao sighed inwardly before focusing his attention as the old man began to recite the commandments.

“Our sect’s rules are simple—just three. First, respect your master and the way, or you’ll be expelled. Second, you must know how to drink wine, or you’ll be expelled. Third, if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard.” After reciting, the old man glanced at his fingers as if to check whether he’d missed anything, and finally nodded, satisfied.

“Boy, these three rules are the most important. Remember them well!” the old man said gravely. Luo Hao, upon hearing this, felt a burst of joy in his heart—these rules were infinitely better than those tedious and boring school regulations.

“Master, what’s our sect called? Judging by your appearance, the name must be pretty awe-inspiring!” Luo Hao had originally wanted to say, “Judging by your shabby clothes, is the sect poor?” but changed his words at the last second.

“Just call me Master, call it whatever you want. If you hadn’t asked, I would have forgotten myself. Our sect is called the Haotian Sect—don’t forget it!” The old man frowned, searching his memory, and finally recalled the name. Luo Hao couldn’t help but think the old man probably hadn’t been back to the sect in ages.

“Master, please teach me martial arts quickly!” Luo Hao was so eager he couldn’t wait any longer. The old man glanced at him and said, “The first step in martial arts is to remove the impurities from your body, to achieve a state of purity—this is called tempering the flesh. For most people, this takes at least three to five years.”

“Old man, how long do I have to temper my body?” Luo Hao blurted out anxiously. If it took four or five years, what was the point? He might as well go back to that ruined temple and resume his promising and challenging career as a beggar.

“Boy, because you drank two mouthfuls of my wine, you can skip the body tempering step.” The old man, seeing Luo Hao’s conflicted expression, didn’t care about his form of address and even smiled slightly.

“This old man definitely did that on purpose,” Luo Hao cursed inwardly, but his face remained perfectly composed—his acting would have easily earned him an Oscar.

“Old man, your wine is that miraculous? You should give your treasured disciple some more!” Luo Hao looked at the wine gourd in the old man’s hand with a greedy gleam in his eye, as if staring at a beautiful woman.

“Boy, drink as much as you like if you aren’t afraid of dying.” The old man generously thrust the wine gourd in front of Luo Hao. Staring at the swaying gourd, Luo Hao thought, “Perfume is poison, wine is deadlier—stay calm, don’t let the wine muddle my mind.”

“Master, I was only joking! What kind of disciple would steal his master’s wine? Next time I’ll steal someone else’s instead.” Luo Hao grinned mischievously.

“Good lad, you’re teachable. Enough nonsense—listen carefully to what I’m about to say!” The old man put away his laziness; his eyes shone with a sharp light. Knowing that his master was about to truly instruct him in martial arts, Luo Hao immediately sat up straight, full of seriousness.

“The path of martial arts begins with the Sense of Qi. Qi is everywhere, omnipresent. The dantian is the innate center for sensing and storing qi. When you can generate a sense of qi within your dantian, you’ll be able to sense the spiritual energy scattered across heaven and earth. Then, by nourishing the spirit with qi, you step into the Qi Spirit Realm, which is divided into nine levels. Nine is a number of completion. Do you understand?” The old man paused to take a drink, then looked at Luo Hao.

“I understand. What comes after the Qi Spirit Realm, Master?” Luo Hao, for the first time, found learning to be a joyful experience.

“After the Qi Spirit Realm comes the Blood Gathering Realm. Only by gathering blood with spirit can you break through to the Blood Gathering Realm. It also has nine levels. Now, focus on generating your sense of qi. I did it in three days when I was young—don’t be worse than me, or I’ll expel you from the sect.”

“Hey, old man, that’s not in the rules,” Luo Hao protested, but the old man ignored his disdainful look and led him outside the cave. Luo Hao wailed inwardly: so ultimately, you have the final say on all the sect rules!

As soon as he stepped out of the cave, Luo Hao felt a fierce wind whip past his ears—so sharp and cold it felt as if his skin was being sliced open with a blade.

“Master, this isn’t Ziyun Town, is it? There aren’t such high mountains around Ziyun Town,” Luo Hao edged closer to the old man, shivering.

“We’re about three thousand miles from Ziyun Town,” the old man replied carelessly. He pulled Luo Hao out from behind him and tossed him onto a jutting black rock by the cave entrance. The stone was covered in deep gouges, as if slashed by knives.

“Old man, are you trying to kill me?” Luo Hao shouted as soon as he landed. The wind, sharp as blades, cut his skin open in bloody gashes. The mountain was so cold that his blood immediately froze, only to be cut open again—a cycle of torment like being flayed alive.

With a flick of his hand, the old man ignored Luo Hao’s cries and sent a white stream of energy into Luo Hao’s body. “This spirit energy will circulate inside you once and help you get used to the feeling of qi.” With that, the old man lay down nearby to drink and nap.

“Damn, this hurts like hell! No—I still have to get revenge on that Song fellow, I can’t give up. I’ll endure this little pain,” Luo Hao gritted his teeth, sitting cross-legged on the black stone, neither happy nor sad, focusing on the energy moving within him.

Gradually, Luo Hao felt as if the world had come to a standstill. In the darkness, he could feel the flow of air against his skin, but the blade-like wind no longer hurt him.

“Promising…” Luo Hao felt as if he were wandering across mountains and rivers; he could even hear the faint sounds of insects crawling across the grass. Every pore in his body opened wide, and strands of white light seemed to flow into him. In his dantian, a warm golden glow rose up like a tiny sun, driving away the cold.

“Is this the sense of qi? It must be!” Excitement surged in his heart, but as soon as he became agitated, his golden sun began to waver. Luo Hao hurriedly calmed his mind, striving to keep the little sun steady.

Just then, a strange vibration sounded from his dantian. Above the golden sun, a cluster of silver light suddenly appeared, shrouding the golden sun and making it solid and stable.

“That unlucky mirror!” When Luo Hao saw what the silver light was, he cried out in his heart. It was none other than the ancient mirror that had brought him to this world.

The ancient mirror was octagonal, made of bronze, with two handles engraved with mysterious patterns. The back bore lifelike images of the four ancient fiends—Taowu, Qiongqi, Hundun, and Taotie. The front depicted the four sacred beasts—Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise. Stranger still, at the top and bottom of the mirror were two beast heads—one was a qilin, and the other Luo Hao did not recognize.

“This unlucky mirror is surely no ordinary treasure,” Luo Hao thought. “A mirror with the four ancient fiends and the four sacred beasts on it—how could it be ordinary? And it crossed over with me. Maybe it’s what brought me to this land.”

“Hey, unlucky mirror, since you brought me here, at least give me some benefits to calm my nerves!” Luo Hao shamelessly pleaded in his mind.

To his surprise, the mirror responded with a tremor and suddenly flooded his mind with information.

His head felt as if it would split apart, and he saw two golden dragons soar into existence within his consciousness. Their sinewy bodies were covered in dragon scales, each etched with ancient runes. Among the runes, ancient characters gleamed.

“The Twin Dragons’ Proud World Technique—just from the name, it must be a powerful cultivation method! With luck like this, nothing can stop me!” Overjoyed, Luo Hao began to study the characters on the golden dragons. Though he had never learned them, he somehow understood their meaning.

“Dragons are among the mightiest creatures in existence, their power beyond that of mortal men. I, after a lifetime of study, created this Twin Dragons’ Proud World Technique. This art does not cultivate spiritual energy, but dragon force—the supreme entry-level martial art. Yet it is fierce and domineering; those without a resolute mind must not practice it, or the dragon force will turn upon them and destroy them.” Reading these lines, Luo Hao’s expression grew serious.

“What kind of peerless figure could have created such a method? To use a human body to cultivate dragon force—how bold!” It was well known that among all living things, humans were the most fragile, while dragon force was the most ferocious and dangerous. The gap between the two was as vast as heaven and earth.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Hao finally chose to practice the Twin Dragons’ Proud World Technique. To become a strong man at the summit was not just empty talk—it required a heart that could never be crushed, no matter how many hardships it faced.

With a deep breath, Luo Hao focused his qi in his dantian, his mind calm and emotionless. As he began to circulate the Twin Dragons’ Proud World Technique, a golden dragon’s head slowly rose above him. The dragon opened its mouth, inhaling forcefully. In that instant, all spiritual energy in the area was sucked away, and a torrent of power surged into Luo Hao’s body.

“Strange, why did all the spiritual energy just vanish?” The old man, napping nearby, suddenly sensed the air had been drained of all qi. He looked over to see Luo Hao sweating and writhing in pain, as if he’d just been pulled from water.

“Damn, this isn’t cultivating dragon force—it’s trying to kill me!” Luo Hao’s veins bulged, his blood raced, his whole body felt on fire, and the overwhelming energy rampaged through his meridians like a wild beast.

Fortunately, Luo Hao’s previous experiences had already strengthened his meridians. Though the pain was excruciating, he could endure it. A strand of golden energy flowed into the golden sun in his dantian.

With a “pop,” the golden sun burst like a soap bubble. Luo Hao was heartbroken—after all his effort, the sense of qi he had just formed was shattered. But as the golden sun exploded, a tiny golden figure appeared in his dantian. Strictly speaking, it was only a vaguely human shape, without eyes, ears, mouth, or nose.

“What the hell?” Luo Hao’s expression changed instantly—this was not something his master had mentioned. His face paled again and again, while the old man, who had opened his eyes, stared at Luo Hao as if he had seen a ghost.