"Life and death are against each other!"

"However, Senior Li Taibai's sword art showed that the Dao of Life and Death should be performed through one move." Teng Qingshan assessed the performance of the invincible sword art displayed through the Celestial Jade Annulus. The green figure was performing the profound moves of the sword technique before his eyes. Teng Qingshan thought to himself, "How did the powers of Life and Death engender one another and come together as one?"

Teng Qingshan thought about the different fist techniques.

"No, no…"

Teng Qingshan stood up quickly and immediately began practicing his fist art in the gloomy and secretive room. His fists moved very smoothly and quickly. It seemed as though Teng Qingshan had entered into a supernatural experience.

"It's just not right!"

The beginning of the Three Postures contained the Dao of Life while the attacking move of the Three Postures contained the Dao of Death. According to reason, these moves should engender each other and strengthen each other. However, how could the realm of life and the realm of death engender one another?" A murderous glint sparkled in Teng Qingshan's eyes. Occasionally, his eyes glowed with endless vitality.

His aura changed continuously.

Teng Qingshan was obsessed with the Celestial Jade Annulus and continued studying it for a long time. During this time, he managed to cultivate the Power of Life and the Power of Death to the highest level. And now, his Niwan Palace only contained some white liquid with the density of dew and some black and oily liquid that emanated the aura of death and had the density of liquid mercury.

His Niwan Palace was black and white.

It was filled with the aura of death and the aura of life.

One side sparked fear in people's hearts, while the other sparked joy. They were absolutely the opposite of each other.

When Teng Qingshan did not understand life and death well enough, he was capable of boosting the Dao of Life with the Dao of Death, and vice versa. However, when he had studied the Dao of Life and Dao of Death to the maximum level, he realized that life and death were against each other, no matter what! No matter what he did, the Dao of Life and the Dao of Death were still absolutely against each other.

Through the Dao of Sword displayed by the Celestial Jade Annulus, he realized that if he wished to reach the next level of cultivation, he had to merge Life and Death as one.

However, he just could not do it!

Even though he knew the way to reach the next level of cultivation, he could not understand the process.

"Why? Why? Life and Death are absolutely set against each other! How can I merge the two into one? How can I achieve that?" Teng Qingshan appeared to have gone mad. Actually, many courageous and powerful cultivators in the Land of the Nine Prefectures were also stumped by the same question.

How does one merge life and death into one?

According to the history of the Land of the Nine Prefectures, there had only been four Omnipotent Experts. If Duanmu Yu of the Northern Sea Continent was included, there would only be five! A total of five Omnipotent Experts!

"Bang!""Bang!""Bang!"

Suddenly, someone knocked on the stone doors.

The knocks were not loud. However, because the room was extremely quiet, the sound startled Teng Qingshan. Instantly, he disentangled himself from the madness and obsession and regained his senses.

"Whew! Whew…"

Teng Qingshan's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He was panting and gasping for air. After some time, he recovered.

"Such a pity!"

Teng Qingshan glanced at the Celestial Jade Annulus and said to himself, "I still can't clear this important hurdle." He had achieved the culmination of the Insightful Emptiness Realm and his Power of Life and Power of Death were almost perfect. And now, he just needed to merge these two types of power.

"If I can achieve this breakthrough, even if I can't completely merge the Power of Life and the Power of Death, I will be able to achieve the Great Dao. I just need to merge a portion of both the Power of Life and the Power of Death so that I can become powerful enough to fight against Pei San." Teng Qingshan thought to himself.

Teng Qingshan immediately walked to the side and grabbed the ladle in a jar filled with water. He scooped up some cold water and poured it over himself.

Walla~

As he washed his body with the cold water that contained pieces of ice, his skin began quivering, shaking off the dust and dirt particles stuck on his entire body. And then, his body began giving off vapor. The icy water was transformed into vapor and his body was dried. He then changed into some clean clothes.

"Crack~~~" The stone door opened.

A green-cloaked young man stood outside the door in a cautious manner. He then said respectfully, "Senior, it has been one month and six days. I have come to wake you up today, as per your order."

"Mhm." Teng Qingshan nodded with a smile. This young man had been assigned by the Sword Tower to help him with anything he needed during this period of closed-door cultivation.

"One month and six days…"

Teng Qingshan walked along the walls of the cave and headed towards the exit.

A dazzling light radiated. The exit of the cave was situated on a cliff about halfway up the mountain. Teng Qingshan observed the sky and the ground and noticed that the vast earth was covered with a layer of snow. The bone-chilling coldness filled the air. The cold winter had apparently arrived.

"It has been one month and six days, which means that today is the first day of the twelfth lunar month. Time went by so quickly. This time has come again," Teng Qingshan said to himself as he gazed at the vast earth covered with snow, "It is time to go back!"

"I have not seen Little Jun and the others for more than a year." During the past year, he had spent most of his time being obsessed with cultivation. He was immersed in learning about the Dao of Sword taught by the Celestial Jade Annulus and comprehending his own Dao.

Immediately, Teng Qingshan turned and headed back into the cave.

"Senior, what would you like to eat?" The young man, wearing the green cloak, asked respectfully.

"I won't be needing any food."

Teng Qingshan went into the room and disassembled his Reincarnation Spear, placing the parts into the spear's sheath. He cast a glance at the young man and said, "Brother, thank you for taking care of me during this past year. I have occasionally taught you a few sword techniques during my time here, but I have decided to show you a complete set of sword technique before I leave. Just learn as much as you can."

The green-cloaked young man was shocked to hear that the senior would soon leave.

The young man had served Teng Qingshan for over a year. Whenever Teng Qingshan took a break from his closed-door cultivation, he would occasionally instruct the green-cloaked young man. Certainly, the young man learned a great deal from Teng Qingshan. The learning experience also made him appreciate and revere this mysterious guest who was respected by even the Grand Supreme Elder.

"Watch closely." Teng Qingshan said as he placed his index finger and middle finger together.

Whew!

A flash of white light burst forth from the two fingers, appearing like a sword.

Immediately, Teng Qingshan began performing a sword dance. His entire being was like a spirit within the sword. The sword moved beautifully. There was a total of eighteen moves and Teng Qingshan performed these eighteen moves three times. The young man memorized all the moves during the first performance. Strangely enough, the young man felt confused when he watched the second performance of the sword art; during the third performance, the young man realized that he could not understand the sword art at all.

"This…" The green-cloaked young man was very puzzled.

"This sword technique has a total of fifty-four moves." Teng Qingshan glanced at the green-cloaked young man and explained, "It has been divided into three sets of moves. Each set has eighteen moves and each set of moves is unique. Try your best to understand this sword technique. Consider this a gift of gratitude and recognition of our meeting."

As soon as Teng Qingshan finished his sentence, he carried the spear sheath on his back and flew out of the cave.

"Roar~~"

A roar resonated in the sky.

Immediately, a golden light radiated. Teng Qingshan hovered in the air and landed on the back of the Six Legged Bladelike Chi.

"Brother Teng," a refreshing voice sounded. "Are you leaving now?"

"Brother Huangfu, the Celestial Jade Annulus can no longer benefit my cultivation. Maybe we will see each other again in the future. Goodbye." Teng Qingshan's voice sounded. However, even while his voice could still be heard, he vanished beyond the southern horizon with the Six Legged Bladelike Chi.

Whoosh!

Huangfu Yujiang landed outside the cave. At this moment, the green-cloaked young man stood at the same spot, appearing to be in a daze.

"Martial Ancestor." The green-cloaked young man regained his senses and hastily greeted.

"What were you thinking earlier?" Huangfu Yujiang asked.

"Martial Ancestor, the senior just taught me a sword technique that I do not understand regardless of how much I think." The green-cloaked young man shook his head and said, "The senior said that the sword technique is divided into three sets of moves. Each set has eighteen moves. However, when I watched him perform the moves, I thought he performed the same set of moves three times. I could understand the sword technique in the beginning. However, as I continued watching, I found myself becoming more and more confused. It was strange."

Huangfu Yujiang frowned and said, "You thought the three unique sets of moves appeared exactly the same? And as you continued watching, you became more confused?"

"Yes. That is correct." The green-cloaked young man nodded hastily.

"Try your best to learn this sword art." Huangfu Yujiang glanced at the young disciple and said, "If you can understand some of it, you will be able to attain the Innate Realm. If you can understand all of it, then you will definitely reach great heights in your cultivation." Huangfu Yujiang was well aware of how powerful Teng Qingshan was… Teng Qingshan was so powerful that the Celestial Jade Annulus could no longer guide his cultivation.

Considering that Teng Qingshan had reached such a high cultivation level, the sword art taught by Teng Qingshan surely contained great power.

As Teng Qingshan sat on the Six Legged Bladelike Chi and soared high in the sky, he smiled and said to himself, "I should not be greedy. I have already gained a lot through this closed-door cultivation."

"I have understood most of the 'Green Lotus Sword Melody.' I know how to perform the last few moves of the sword art, but I still need to understand the profound Dao conveyed by those moves." Teng Qingshan knew that the Celestial Jade Annulus had become useless to him. After all, no matter how much time he spent studying the moves displayed by the Celestial Jade Annulus, those moves still appeared the same."

Even with the teachings of an Omnipotent Expert, there was no guarantee that the cultivator would absolutely reach the Omnipotent Realm.

The attainment of the Omnipotent Realm would still be extremely difficult!

The Celestial Jade Annulus could only function as a guide. He still needed to rely on himself to make the breakthrough.

In Yangzhou, the northeastern region of the Land of the Nine Prefectures:

In the East Flower Garden of the Xing Yi Sect, located on the Great Yan Mountain…

"Brother Fan, why isn't Teng Qingshan back yet?" Yuan Lan held a baby in her arms as she looked up in the sky. Her hair had started turning silver.

"Why are you so worried!"

Teng Yongfan glared at Yuan Lan and scolded, "Don't worry! Qingshan said that he will be back before the duel between Pei San and Qin Shiqi. Since he said so, he will be back. I know my son well."

"Why did you get mad at me!" Yuan Lan complained, "I think you should go back to the village and teach the younger generations how to forge weapons and how to fight!"

"Hmph."

Teng Yongfan stopped talking. He just looked at the sky from time to time.

Both Teng Yongfan and Yuan Lan were worried about their son Teng Qingshan.

Suddenly—

A golden beam of light shot forth from afar, rapidly flying towards them.

"Brother Fan, our son is back." Yuan Lan suddenly exclaimed joyously.

"You must have seen wrongly again. When you shouted that last time, the phoenix descended instead of Qingshan." Suddenly, Teng Yongfan stopped talking as he stood up immediately.

With a smile, Teng Qingshan appeared before his parents. His hair was untied and he wore a white cloak.

"Father! Mother!" Teng Qingshan shouted with a wide grin on his face.

"Qingshan." Yuan Lan ran over quickly. Immediately, Li Jun, Honglin, and Hongwu, who were in another courtyard, rushed over as well.

"Father, did you not go to the village to teach the younger ones how to fight and forge weapons?" Teng Qingshan asked.

Teng Yongfan shook his head and said uncaringly, "Those kids are too annoying. They do not know anything. It is better to come to your house. This place is quieter and no one here annoys me. I just want to live a peaceful life." Yuan Lan glanced at her husband. Teng Yongfan was obviously here because he had been worried about Teng Qingshan. Yet, he just had to be so stubborn.

When Teng Qingshan saw his parents' interactions, his grin became even wider.

"Is this…" Teng Qingshan stared at the baby in his mother's arms.