Chapter Nineteen: To Be Like the Divine! (First Update)

The youth appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, with delicate features and a slender frame. His attire was simple, dressed in casual clothes like a student—not a hint of anything remarkable. If not for his abrupt interjection, Old Shen might not have even noticed when such a young man entered the villa’s grand hall.

“What did you just say?” Shen’s son folded away his paper fan, a cold gleam in his eyes. He had met Jiang Yu briefly at the pharmacy door days ago, and his strongest impression was of Jiang Yu’s proud bearing.

Jiang Yu stood calmly, hands clasped behind his back. Though the youngest among them, he exuded a powerful aura even Old Shen could not suppress. Xia Ning remained silent, Xia Wuchang was bewildered, Old Shen was shocked and angry—complex expressions flickered across every face.

Jiang Yu glanced at Old Shen, snorting coldly, “I said you’re talking nonsense!”

Xia Hou Sheng, invaded by the Golden Qi of the Jade Water, already suffered fever and pain, as though plunged into boiling oil, seared from both sides—a torment only Jiang Yu could truly understand. To attack the Golden Qi within Xia Hou Sheng’s body with the utmost Yang technique, unless one possessed the iron will of ancient cultivators, able to endure boundless agony, it was impossible. Otherwise, once begun, the clash of extreme Yang and Jade Water’s Golden Qi would instantly engulf everyone in the villa hall, erupting in full force. As a mere mortal, Xia Hou Sheng would be instantly consumed.

Coral of the Cold Pool, Jade Water’s Golden Flame—utter cold, utter Yang! The two complemented each other; wherever Cold Pool Coral grew, the waters would be half frozen, half boiling—a true marvel.

As for Old Shen, the simple array he set down was full of flaws in Jiang Yu’s eyes; Jiang Yu could easily destroy it with a flick of his fingers if he wished. The direction was right, but the method—fatally wrong.

“Nonsense, am I?” Old Shen laughed furiously, as if hearing the greatest absurdity, pointing at Jiang Yu. “Where did this brat come from—do you know what kind of place this is?”

When a master is angered, blood spills for a hundred paces. This was no empty threat.

Xia Wuchang’s face changed dramatically, rushing to interject, “Mr. Jiang, mind your words—do you know who stands before you?” His tone was thick with displeasure. He now regretted agreeing to Xia Ning’s request to invite Jiang Yu. How could the renowned Feng Shui master of Jiangbei be publicly questioned by a mere youth? Utterly ridiculous!

Xia Ning frowned, worry creasing her brow. Jiang Yu, facing the accusations, remained indifferent, as if the scolding was directed at someone else.

“Mr. Jiang, quickly apologize to Old Shen,” Xia Ning urged anxiously.

But Jiang Yu only cast a disdainful glance at Old Shen, speaking coolly, “Apologize? Is he even worthy?”

It was over! Xia Ning covered her forehead, wishing she could push Jiang Yu out the door.

“What did you say?” Old Shen had previously been angry only at Jiang Yu’s lack of manners—how could a junior question an elder in public, especially one with such a distinguished reputation? Now, Jiang Yu’s words crossed into outright insult.

Xia Wuchang quickly restrained Jiang Yu, “Mr. Jiang, Old Shen has let your youth and inexperience slide—don’t press your luck with arrogant words.”

Jiang Yu’s arrogance stirred everyone’s displeasure. Old Shen pressed closer, demanding, “Do you understand the mysteries of the Eight Trigrams?”

“Do you know the Dragon Shaking Sutra?”

“Do you comprehend the logic of Heaven and Earth?”

“You don’t even know what I’m asking!”

“I became a disciple of the True Man of the Nine Palaces at nine, entered the secular world at twelve with great resolve and talent, crossed into the realm of internal mastery at nineteen, hailed as a martial prodigy by my master. At twenty-eight, I reached the mid-stage of internal mastery, at thirty-six achieved perfection, and stood above all in Jiangbei.” With each statement, Old Shen stepped forward, his aura rising.

“At forty-eight, I entered the threshold of grandmaster.”

“At fifty-nine, I broke through, becoming a master of transformative internal force.”

With Old Shen’s own confirmation, Xia Wuchang’s pupils contracted. As expected, Old Shen had long since become a grandmaster. Instantly, Xia Wuchang’s gaze grew fervent. Xia Ning looked at Old Shen with admiration—had he been thirty years younger, perhaps her heart would have been moved.

Since witnessing the prowess of secular martial artists, Xia Ning held them in reverent awe, vowing to marry one in her lifetime. Since ancient times, heroes have been undone by beauty; the reverse holds true as well.

Old Shen spoke with force and fury, his eyes blazing, “My life’s achievements—none can compare for a hundred years past or fifty years hence. Even Ma Tianzong, Jiangbei’s richest man, honors me as a distinguished guest. Not only you, a mere boy who hasn’t grown his hair, but even the mayor of Yun City must show me respect and call me Old Shen.”

Jiang Yu nodded with a smile, “Among your peers, you do have some accomplishments…” Then he shifted, “But in my eyes, you’re not even as good as my worst disciple.”

Xia Ning was terrified—Jiang Yu was getting more outrageous by the moment. She grabbed his sleeve, “Mr. Jiang, let me take you home.” She was starting to regret her decision. This young man knew no bounds.

Jiang Yu tilted his head with a smile, “Why should I leave?”

Old Shen raised his voice, “Boy, today you’ll see the old man’s true strength!” With that, Old Shen chanted a spell, his hair and beard rising without wind. “Array, arise!”

Suddenly, everyone felt their vision blur, the surroundings shifting as if the stars themselves were moving. Even the air grew hotter.

“Excellent, finally a secular martial artist worth my attention,” Jiang Yu’s smile deepened.

“It’s truly divine art!” Xia Wuchang, Xia Ning, and the others had forgotten all about Jiang Yu, now marveling at the spectacle before them. Under such overwhelming power, Xia Ning felt nearly compelled to kneel.

Jiang Yu spoke, “What you mentioned earlier, I truly don’t understand, because in my eyes, those are mere inferior techniques practiced by ordinary cats and dogs.”

“Arrogant!” Old Shen controlled the array, intending to teach the proud youth a harsh lesson. If pushed too far, he didn’t mind using the boy’s blood to consecrate his array.

Jiang Yu, hands clasped behind his back, stepped forward. “I call your words nonsense because you simply do not understand the true art of medical arrays. Wrong is wrong—no matter how great your achievements, you cannot change that fact.”

“An array takes Heaven and Earth as its eye, all beings as its points, encompassing the vast phenomena of the heavens, the plants, the mountains, and rivers. Your so-called grand array is merely a half-baked patchwork, a clever but misguided modification of a broken formation. You have gone astray, making mismatched changes. And now you wish to use arrays for healing? Your stubbornness will only harm Xia Hou Sheng and everyone here.”

“Well then—you asked for my justification; now I’ll show you!”

Within the flawed array, Jiang Yu strolled as if in his own garden, untroubled. Old Shen’s face changed, suddenly crying out, “What’s happening?”

He could feel the array growing chaotic, its connection slipping away, as if someone was forcibly seizing control. This array, which he had refined over more than a decade, was supposed to be inseparably linked to him. It could kill, it could heal, and thanks to it, he was renowned across Jiangbei’s Feng Shui circles.

Three feet above the head resides divinity; three inches within the palm lies the world.

Jiang Yu loosened his fingers, spreading his palm, and softly intoned, “Array, arise!”

In an instant, the hall shone as bright as day, dazzling and brilliant. Jiang Yu held the array in his hand, like a god descending from the heavens!