Faced with A Shui's kind reminder and advice, Wen Chaoshen neither expressed his gratitude nor responded. His attention seemed to be focused on something more important. After a moment of silence, he asked A Shui in a very tactful and determined manner:

  "Can I really not learn your skills?"

  A Shui's shadow on the wall appeared very silent.

  "You really want to train with me?"

  Wen Chaoshen answered sincerely:

  "I really do, very much."

  A Shui slightly tilted her head, her gaze flowing through the narrow slits of her eyes, passing through the flickering firelight, and nding on Wen Chaoshen's face.

  "Why?"

  This time, her question seemed more serious than the st.

  Wen Chaoshen's answer was as concise as ever:

  "Because you're strong."

  "A Shui, can someone as powerful as you rank among the martial world of the Four Kingdoms?"

  A Shui zily replied:

  "I wouldn't know, I'm not part of the martial world."

  Wen Chaoshen opened his eyes and looked sideways at A Shui. Initially, he thought A Shui was brushing him off, but when he saw those eyes, he couldn't help but believe her.

  She had no reason to deceive him.

  "So, can you teach me to cultivate?"

  He asked again, only to receive A Shui's cold reply.

  "Wen Chaoshen, I can't teach you."

  She looked at the young man across the fire, speaking in a slightly softened tone, revealing a truth that left Wen Chaoshen in despair:

  "Not just me, most people in this world can't teach you, not even those from the legendary cultivation sanctuaries."

  "The st time you asked me, I told you that you couldn't learn my skills because you were too old, your bones had set, affecting your dantian. But that's not the real reason."

  "The fundamental reason you can't cultivate... is that you simply don't have a dantian."

  Upon hearing this, Wen Chaoshen sat up straight from the ground, all traces of sleepiness gone.

  "Are you sure?"

  A Shui affirmed:

  "I'm sure."

  "I can see it at a gnce, but I wasn't certain at the time because people without a dantian are extremely rare, maybe one in a hundred thousand. So I deliberately examined you further and found that you indeed have no dantian."

  "That's why I said you're the unluckiest person I've ever met."

  Wen Chaoshen stared at A Shui for a long time, lips tightly pressed, unable to say a word.

  A Shui continued:

  "The reason that White Dragon Guard looked down on you is because he also saw that you are completely incapable of cultivation. The dantian is the means by which humans connect with the natural world. The human body has 720 acupoints, each with its own use, but only the power of a refined dantian can activate these acupoints, unleash potential, and make one move like the mysterious wind in the mountains or the surging tides at sea, resonating with heaven and earth, bursting like divine thunder."

  "No matter how much an ordinary person trains their body, muscles, and bones, they can never compete with the forces of nature. Thus, in front of a martial cultivator, an ordinary person is as weak as a child, completely defenseless."

  "You were born without a dantian, and no matter how hard you try ter, your potential will always be limited."

  "You're a good person, and I didn't want to hit you with this, but you'll encounter this reality sooner or ter, and hiding it for too long might harm you instead."

  Wen Chaoshen's eyes appeared particurly hollow in the firelight, but soon they returned to normal. He looked at A Shui lying on the ground and asked earnestly, unwilling to give up:

  "Is there really no way at all?"

  A Shui shook her head.

  "I have no way at all."

  "This kind of situation is already extremely rare, and I'm not a master who founds sects, so I have no experience in teaching disciples."

  "If you insist on learning from me, I can only teach you a Daoist health-preserving technique."

  Wen Chaoshen hesitated for a moment, then asked:

  "What technique?"

  A Shui:

  "Years ago, the Beihai Daoist traveled the world and carved three unique techniques on a stone stele in the far east of the Zhao Kingdom: Whale Dive, False Speech, and Ageless Spring."

  "The technique I know is Ageless Spring."

  "This technique is quite special; it doesn't require a dantian to practice, but its effects vary from person to person, and it can only strengthen the body and prolong life, not grant you the power to split mountains and break stones."

  Wen Chaoshen, undeterred, said:

  "Practicing is better than not practicing."

  "You're right, I am indeed the unluckiest person in the world, but even unlucky people have their ways of living. If I didn't want to live, I should have died three years ago, at least I wouldn't have to endure so much suffering."

  "For the past three years, I've been constantly thinking about how to survive, how to live better. Compared to that, not having a dantian doesn't seem like such a serious issue."

  A Shui gazed at Wen Chaoshen's face. Only now did she realize she had underestimated his determination to live.

  An indescribable feeling slowly spread in her chest, as if the pain from old wounds was gradually being covered. A Shui turned her face away, closed her eyes, and said:

  "Go to sleep."

  "Tomorrow morning, I'll teach you the incantation and guide you on how to practice."

  …

  Kuhai County, County Office.

  The starlight and moonlight were obscured by wind and snow. Chun Qiong stood in the room where Liu Jinshi's body was kept, while Wu Xie still stood guard with a knife in hand, his shorter arm stitched with dense threads, and his elbow supported by a white cloth tied around his neck.

  Liu Jinshi's body had only been moved slightly, with no other abnormalities.

  After examining Liu Jinshi's body, Chun Qiong asked Wu Xie incredulously:

  "You said the limping woman who came today has cultivation higher than yours?"

  Wu Xie's lips were slightly pale, and his indifferent eyes recalled the scene of their encounter as he replied:

  "Far superior to me."

  Chun Qiong's expression grew more serious, his gaze sweeping over Wu Xie's injured arm, and he asked:

  "Can you discern her martial style?"

  Wu Xie shook his head.

  "No style."

  "She used the guards' long knife, all horizontal and vertical strokes."

  "But every move was an unstoppable killing blow. Fortunately, her leg was me, her movement restricted. I tangled with her for ten moves, exchanged one move, and lost an arm."

  "Moreover, she was injured, quite seriously. If her old wound hadn't fred up at the crucial moment, that ssh would have taken my head."

  Listening to Wu Xie's description, Chun Qiong felt a chill run down his spine.

  "Wu Xie, you entered the Dragon Chant Realm fifteen years ago... and now you can't withstand a single move from her?"

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