A moment later, after Li Chengxi passed through the alley.

A masked figure suddenly appeared in front of the mutated weeds, reached out, and dug them out with a gloved hand, carefully collecting them.

With another flicker, he appeared elsewhere and collected the mutated stone as well.

Before long, these two items appeared before Gongshan Rong, the head of the Gongshan family.

He reached out, pinched the stone, and felt the intense cold temperature constantly emanating from it, his expression changing slightly.

"Second Brother, what do you think?"

He looked at the middle-aged man standing beside him, who was also carefully observing. The man also had a head of fiery hair, but while Gongshan Rong's was pure gold, his was bright red.

This was Gongshan Jun, the second most skilled expert in the Gongshan family after the head, and also Gongshan Rong's younger brother.

"No demonic energy, no evil energy, but pure cold energy, yet without any Yin energy."

"Pure cold energy like a natural phenomenon, unrestrained, without root or source... Truly marvelous," Gongshan Rong exclaimed in admiration.

"How long can its cold energy last?" Gongshan Jun asked.

"Not sure, but we can try," Gongshan Rong said, standing in the study and pointing a finger.

Instantly, a ball of golden flame enveloped the mutated weeds in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't difficult for him to envelop the weeds without igniting them, given his precise control.

The entire weed seemed to be encased in a golden hollow bubble. The continuous high temperature constantly absorbed the surrounding heat.

One second.

Two seconds.

Five seconds.

Fifteen seconds...

The weeds showed no signs of wilting, and even under the eyes of the two experts, the speed at which it released cold energy remained constant.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, the weeds remained the same.

Gongshan Rong's expression changed slightly. He simply clenched his palm, and the blazing palm force enveloped the weeds, directly igniting them.

Whoosh!

The golden flame flashed, and the weeds turned into black ash.

Gongshan Rong exhaled and withdrew his Xiantian Jin Yuan (Innate Metal Essence).

But as soon as he withdrew it, he saw the weeds, which had already turned into black ash, reshape themselves and return to their original state.

Countless black ashes floated, coalesced, and looked like countless black worms, but within seconds, they returned to their previous appearance.

Still gray-black weeds.

Suddenly, Gongshan Rong seemed to realize something.

"Unaffected, which means, if this cold energy continues to be released..."

Gongshan Jun also thought of this.

They had once consulted a fortuneteller who told them that the two brothers were destined to face a disaster that would wipe out their family. They had spent a great price to find their current place of survival and establish the new Gongshan family.

They had settled here for more than eighty years.

"This is a natural phenomenon. Search the surrounding area again to see if there are any similar objects," Gongshan Rong said in a deep voice.

"Alright!"

*

*

*

Time flies, years pass like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

On Bihai (Azure Sea) Beach.

Countless dense white lines constantly overlapped, creating a clear, sharp whistling sound.

Li Chengxi, now ten years old, was practicing martial arts on the beach with Gongshan Heng and Gongshan Leijiu.

Li Chengxi was still the same, absorbing white lines and drawing the Bihai Haiyuan (Azure Sea Ocean Essence) into his body.

Gongshan Leijiu sat cross-legged on the beach, with streaks of blue-purple electricity constantly spreading out. This was the thunder and lightning Zhenyuan (True Essence) cultivated from the Kuangfeng Nuxiao Gong (Raging Wind Howling Art).

He and Gongshan Heng were both practicing the family's famous Jin Yu (Gold and Jade) martial arts. It was one of the most powerful martial arts, second only to the Lieyang Rongxing Jue (Blazing Sun Melting Star Art).

However, because they were Jin Yu-level martial arts, their progress was extremely slow. Although they had both cultivated Zhenyuan (True Essence) over the past three years, they had only reached the first level of proficiency in the nine-level martial arts.

The meaning of Jin Yu-level martial arts was very clear: reaching the peak would allow them to become Jin Yu-level experts.

That was a level higher than first-rate experts.

But this was only in theory. In reality, 99% of martial arts practitioners could only cultivate their martial arts to a level close to the peak.

This involved the issue of compatibility.

Therefore, the limit of Jin Yu-level martial arts was actually to allow the two of them to reach the first-rate level, and that was the limit.

After a while, Li Chengxi finished his practice, sheathed his sword, turned around, and returned to the beach, letting out a long breath.

Before he could speak, he saw the fat Gongshan Heng approaching with a chicken leg in his hand, gnawing on it as he walked.

"In my opinion, A-Zhu, you should ask your father to exchange for a Jin Yu martial art. The Bihai Jian Jue (Azure Sea Sword Art) is just for building a foundation. Even if you cultivate it to the top, it's only at the first-rate level. You definitely won't reach the top, so in the end, it'll still be second-rate. What's the point?"

"Safety," Li Chengxi smiled.

".Uh." The fatty choked.

Indeed, the Bihai Jian Jue (Azure Sea Sword Art) was considered a safe and peaceful martial art even among the first-rate martial arts. The family's other martial arts, such as his own Tianwang Huoxing Zhang (Heavenly King Fire Punishment Palm), required him to find a high-temperature natural environment outside to temper his palm technique at each level. A slight carelessness could result in being burned to ashes.

The Kuangfeng Nuxiao Gong (Raging Wind Howling Art) that Leijiu practiced was the same. Each time he broke through a level, he needed to expend a lot of energy to control the restlessness of his Zhenyuan (True Essence). Although its power was domineering, his own temperament would also be affected, and his body would become extremely dry and unbalanced, with the risk of inner demons causing chaos.

"It's okay, let's talk about these things later. Anyway, I won't be on the front lines much in the future," Li Chengxi said indifferently.

"That's true. You're probably taking over your father's job and managing the Chamber of Commerce," the fatty nodded helplessly. "As expected of the young master, unlike us, we won't have to risk our lives in the future..."

While the two were chatting idly, Gongshan Leijiu also finished his practice on the other side and approached.

"Have you heard? Gongshan Pingqiu still hasn't recovered."

"What? What do you mean?" Gongshan Heng blinked.

"Literal meaning. Gongshan Pingqiu died a long time ago, that's my exclusive inside information. But it's said that his body has been restless and uneasy, constantly biting and attacking the surroundings. So the family head sealed him in the depths of the clan land and forbade anyone from visiting," Leijiu said in a low voice.

"That's a bit tragic..." the fatty clicked his tongue.

"Han Zongdi said that they haven't been able to find out what's going on over there," Li Chengxi added. "And the same goes for those two fish."

"Could there really be some strange bacteria in this Azure Sea?" the fatty shrank back.

It was possible to observe bacteria and viruses here. In essence, the microscopic investigation of powerful martial artists was no worse than that of the technological world, but these things had always been confined to a small range of circulation.

"Who knows? But these are all small matters, after all, they can't cause any big waves. The real trouble is the Fu family's visit in two days. It's said that a Fu family expert will bring the younger generation of geniuses to have a friendly exchange with us. The clan is already discussing the order of who will go up," Leijiu said.

His news was always very well-informed.

"What's there to be afraid of? It won't be our turn anyway," the fatty said nonchalantly.

Li Chengxi listened to their idle chatter without saying a word.

The two were used to his appearance. Although Li Chengxi didn't like to talk much, sometimes he would suddenly say something that would point directly to the core of the matter.

This was also the reason why they were willing to take the initiative to get close to Li Chengxi.

After a while, the two bid farewell with their guards.

Li Chengxi and Uncle Ning stayed alone on the beach, looking at the two setting suns gradually sinking.

Three years.

The Chonghai Yuan (Double Ocean Essence) in his body had turned into Jiuchong Haiyuan (Ninefold Ocean Essence) and could no longer be burned and purified.

And the Bihai Jian Jue (Azure Sea Sword Art) had smoothly reached the eighth level. As long as he integrated his divine intent, he could achieve Xiantian Jin Yuan (Innate Metal Essence) and become the ninth level peak, that is, a first-rate expert.

It should be known that the entire Gongshan family only had one peerless expert, Gongshan Rong, and the rest were less than a handful of first-rate experts.

If people knew that Li Chengxi was only ten years old and was about to enter the first-rate level, the entire family clan would be shocked and suspect that he was a reincarnation of some great power.

This situation was not without precedent here.

Standing on the beach, admiring the scenery of the sunset for a while, Li Chengxi slowly returned home with Uncle Ning.

The peaceful life allowed Li Chengxi to gradually integrate into this world.

Over the past three years, he had also gained a lot of detailed understanding of the power of the martial artists here.

Soon, returning home, his parents, Gongshan Qingyang and Gongshan Lin, who had not been home together for a long time, were actually both there.

And with them was another person.

A hunchbacked, white-haired old man with a large black tumor on his forehead.

"Zhu'er, quickly come and meet Grandmaster Lushan," Gongshan Qingyang said with a smile, beckoning to Li Chengxi.

Hearing this, Li Chengxi stepped forward and bowed to the old man.

"Gongshan Zhu greets Grandmaster Lushan."

He had heard of this old man's name. He was one of the few non-family Jin Yu experts in the family, and his status was second only to the family head, Gongshan Rong, on weekdays.

He belonged to the status of a guest elder.

The Gongshan family's guest elders were basically qualified to be Jin Yu experts.

"Not bad, not bad." Grandmaster Lushan stroked his beard and sized up Li Chengxi.

He had taken a lot of benefits from Gongshan Qingyang before he was willing to come here. He originally thought that he would just deal with it casually, accept a registered disciple, and use his name to protect him.

But looking at it now.

He saw a few clues from the other party.

"Bihai Jian Jue (Azure Sea Sword Art), what level have you practiced it to?" He slowly approached and stopped three meters away from Li Chengxi.

"Returning to Grandmaster Lushan, I have reached the second level," Li Chengxi casually made up a normal progress.

"Well, not bad, not bad." He originally thought that he would receive a burden, but he didn't expect that this aptitude was okay.

Immediately, Grandmaster Lushan's resistance also decreased a lot, and he nodded back to Gongshan Qingyang and his wife.

"So, that's settled. In addition, I have also seen your two children. There is no problem entering Sihai Dong (Four Seas Cave) and Bilang Gong (Azure Wave Palace)."

Sihai Dong (Four Seas Cave) and Bilang Gong (Azure Wave Palace) were also the cave mansion forces of the other two guest elders of the Gongshan family. Both of them were Jin Yu-level experts. These powerhouses could also establish sects in the Jianghu (Martial World). It's just not a large sect.

"Thank you, Grandmaster Lushan. This is just a small gift, please accept it." Gongshan Qingyang clapped his hands and signaled Aunt Yuan to bring up the prepared gift.

A golden plate covered with a red cloth.

Grandmaster Lushan didn't even look at it and waved his hand to collect it. Instantly, the thing disappeared with the entire plate in the blink of an eye.

"Alright, you can report tomorrow. This is the road guide." He waved his hand.

Instantly, a black mark appeared on the back of Li Chengxi's hand. Upon closer inspection, it was a simple character for "mountain."

The text used in this place was a special text called Liu Wen (Flow Script). In some places, it even had special effects that could attract the energy of heaven and earth.

But from Li Chengxi's point of view, Liu Wen (Flow Script) was quite similar to the Black Sea Script.

"Why don't you thank Grandmaster Lushan?" Gongshan Qingyang and his wife quickly winked at Li Chengxi.

Li Chengxi immediately understood and stepped forward to salute and bow.

"Then, see you at the cave mansion tomorrow." Grandmaster Lushan laughed and disappeared in place with a flash in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)