Returning after 10000 Years Cultivation - Chapter 76

Tang Weimin’s secretary, Cai Zhongxin, hurriedly tried to reassure Old Master Tang:

“Master Tang, Grandmaster Huang was personally invited by Secretary Weimin after great effort to guide Miss Tang. As the saying goes, ‘Don’t trouble two masters for one task.’ Please don’t make things difficult for Secretary Weimin!”

“Xiao Cai, what the hell do you know?!” Tang Wannian snapped impatiently. “Do you have any idea who Master Jiang is? How could that so-called ‘Grandmaster Huang’ even compare?”

Cai Zhongxin paled in shock, nearly covering Tang Wannian’s mouth in panic. “Third Master, please! Grandmaster Huang is the chief instructor of the Central Guards Bureau—a martial arts master at the peak of internal strength! How can you speak like this?”

He couldn’t see anything special about Jiang Tian. If not for Old Master Tang and Third Master’s presence, he would’ve already called security to remove him.

Jiang Tian paid no mind to the commotion. With a sweep of his divine sense, he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Old Master Tang. Linglong has broken through—she’s now at the peak of Body Tempering, just one step away from the Transformation Realm. This girl is truly a prodigy in cultivation!”

“Really?!” Old Master Tang was overjoyed, his gratitude so immense he nearly knelt in reverence.

“Look,” Jiang Tian pointed out. “The bamboo grove is rustling, wind swirling, and spiritual energy is gathering like mist above Linglong’s head. This is the phenomenon of ‘Drawing Qi into the Body.’”

“That’s equivalent to the Grandmaster realm! Heavens, our Tang family might produce a Grandmaster! Thank you, Master Jiang, for gifting her that cultivation manual!” Tang Guozhu trembled with excitement, tears nearly welling in his eyes.

“Pretentious nonsense!” Secretary Cai scoffed under his breath.

Grandmaster realm? Spiritual energy like mist? Drawing Qi into the Body? What kind of fantasy novel was this? He knew Tang Linglong had trained for years without ever touching the threshold of martial arts. Even Grandmaster Huang, a veteran instructor of the Central Guards Bureau, had only reached the peak of internal strength after decades.

Yet according to Jiang Tian, Tang Linglong was now stronger than Grandmaster Huang? What a joke!

“Secretary Tang, something’s wrong!” Grandmaster Huang suddenly exclaimed. “Your daughter is swaying unsteadily, her face deathly pale—these are signs of extreme exhaustion! She must stop cultivating immediately and replenish her energy, or she’ll collapse and die! Even if saved now, she might be permanently crippled!”

“What? How terrible!” Tang Weimin’s face darkened with fury. This Jiang Tian is trying to kill my daughter!

“Nonsense!” A cold voice cut through the tension.

Everyone turned in shock to see Jiang Tian staring disdainfully at Huang Xiangsheng.

Secretary Cai nearly fainted from terror.

Huang Xiangsheng, long revered in martial arts circles, had finally reached his limit. As the Central Guards Bureau’s instructor, he had trained countless elite agents and held status even higher than Tang Guozhu’s. In the entire Chinese martial arts world, only a handful of true Grandmasters could rival him.

“Brat, who is your master?” Huang Xiangsheng sneered. “Did he never teach you to respect your elders?”

“Elders?” Jiang Tian smirked, arms crossed. “What elder? In my eyes, you’re not even worth being called a junior.”

Having lived for millennia in the world of cultivation, Jiang Tian could’ve been Huang Xiangsheng’s ancestor. But how could Huang understand that?

Enraged, Huang Xiangsheng scoffed, “In all of China’s martial arts world, fewer than ten people qualify as my seniors—all heroic figures over eighty. So, which one is your master?”

“Wait… he’s Huang Xiangsheng?” Tang Guozhu gasped.

“You’ve heard of him?” Jiang Tian asked mildly.

“Of course! His reputation in martial arts surpasses even mine. He’s close to central leadership—”

Before Tang Guozhu could finish, Huang Xiangsheng sneered, “Ha! You’ve never even heard my name? Clearly, you’re not part of the martial arts world!”

“That’s right, I haven’t,” Jiang Tian admitted bluntly.

His disciples burst into mocking laughter. A nobody daring to challenge Grandmaster Huang was like a grade-schooler taunting a Nobel Prize-winning physicist.

“But tell me,” Jiang Tian continued, unfazed, “what have you done that’s worth my attention? Even if Ye Zhan Tian himself stood before me, I could slaughter him like a dog. What are you in comparison?”

“I may not belong to your martial arts circle, but any disciple of mine could crush you with a single slap. The techniques I teach are beyond the comprehension of an ant like you.”

“Arrogant fool!” Huang Xiangsheng nearly leaped in fury. “What do you know of martial arts?

“Can you even ‘sink qi to the dantian’?

“Do you understand ‘power rising from the feet’?

“Have you mastered Baji Quan? Bagua staff?”

With each question, he stepped forward, finally reaching the courtyard’s center.

“In 1981, I represented China’s martial arts on a state visit to Russia and defeated the KGB’s chief instructor with three kicks!”

“In 1992, when the European ‘Tombstone’ assassins invaded, I led my disciples to annihilate them in the Qin Mountains!”

“In 1998, when Blackwater mercenaries stole military intelligence at the Sino-Myanmar border, I alone wiped them out and reclaimed the intel!”

…

“In 2001, when terrorists plotted an attack, I dismantled their bombs and slaughtered them all, saving tens of thousands of civilians!”

“I’ve been renowned for decades, fought hundreds of battles, and never lost! How dare a brat like you question my authority?”

The crowd stood in awe of Huang Xiangsheng’s achievements.

Jiang Tian merely chuckled. “In literature, there’s no ‘first place,’ but in martial arts, there’s always a stronger fighter. Enough talk—let’s settle this with action!”

“What? You dare challenge Grandmaster Huang? Get out, now!” Secretary Cai nearly kicked Jiang Tian in panic.

“Pathetic. You’re not even worth my time,” Huang Xiangsheng spat.

“Grandmaster Huang, please ignore his ignorance,” Tang Weimin pleaded with a forced smile.

“Let it go, dear,” Zhao Xueqing whispered, tugging Jiang Tian’s sleeve. “The Tang family has always been arrogant. Don’t bother with them.”

Jiang Tian smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t planning to fight him.”

He raised his voice. “Linglong!”

“What?! You’re having Miss Tang fight me?!” Huang Xiangsheng trembled with rage, almost vomiting blood.

Just then, Secretary Cai shrieked, “Secretary Tang! Look at Linglong—what’s happening?!”

Tang Weimin turned—and froze in disbelief.

Tang Linglong rose slowly, then took a step… into the air.

With each step, she ascended higher, as if climbing invisible stairs. Nine steps later, she stood atop the bamboo grove, eight meters above the ground.

The wind billowed her training robes, her hair streaming like a goddess descending from the heavens.

“My God! Is that…?” The crowd stood petrified.

“Treading the Void… A Transformation Realm Grandmaster?!” Huang Xiangsheng’s voice shook.

Most martial artists could only run on walls or water. But Tang Linglong had ascended midair without leverage—this was the mark of a true Grandmaster!

“Slash!” Tang Linglong flicked her fingers.

A meter-long blade of condensed energy erupted, gleaming brilliantly as it struck the artificial lake.

BOOM!

A ten-meter wave exploded, revealing the lakebed as shattered pebbles flew everywhere.

“Nine Steps to Heaven, One Sword Parting the Lake! This… this is divine power!” Huang Xiangsheng muttered, his soul seemingly leaving his body.

“Is that really my Linglong?” Tang Weimin whispered, unable to reconcile this warrior with the little girl who’d once begged him for candy.

“Our Tang family… has finally produced a Grandmaster!” Old Master Tang wept, clutching his cane.

“Miss Tang… reached Grandmaster level in just one month of Master Jiang’s training?” Huang Xiangsheng mumbled, dazed.

“Master, is Jiang’s technique really that powerful?” his disciples asked.

“Martial arts progress is agonizingly slow. Even with supreme talent and endless resources, reaching the Transformation Realm takes at least forty years!”

“Miss Tang’s aptitude was average—she should’ve capped at Iron Body peak. Yet without any rare elixirs, just by absorbing nature’s energy, she’s become a Grandmaster in a month!”

Huang Xiangsheng trembled. “This isn’t just martial arts… This is divine power! This is immortal art!”

The crowd stood speechless, their minds reeling. Jiang Tian’s technique truly belonged to the realms of gods and immortals.