Half a month later.
On a certain peak in San Cha mountain.
A group of ash-grey mountain apes close to a thousand in numbers tightly surrounded Tie Ruo Nan while screeching and screaming.
Tie Ruo Nan took in a deep breath, she suddenly waved her hand and shot a large cloud of golden needle Gu.
Golden needle Gu was not a natural Gu but was a Gu created by Tie clan's Gu Masters. Every golden needle Gu was a rank two Gu, their length was around an index finger and were like thin golden needles.
Golden needle Gu shot through the apes; some stood on the spot without being able to move, some died from poison and some were driven into a frenzy and actually began attacking their nearby companions.
Tie Ruo Nan repeatedly shot out golden needles; there was chaos among the mountain apes and they suffered huge losses. In a sorry figure and while screeching miserably, they made their escape. Soon, the noisy battlefield quietened down.
Large numbers of mountain apes were on the ground; some were dead and some were at their last breaths.
Tie Ruo Nan slowly walked past them and shot out golden needle Gu again.
But this time, these golden needle Gu had healing effects, they shot into the mountain apes and turned into balls of golden light, moving back and forth between their injuries. Many mountain apes recovered their movement ability.
Golden needle Gu by itself was not wondrous. But when matched with poison liquid Gu, it could turn into poison needle. When matched with stiff Gu, it could make the enemies unable to move a single step. When matched with chaotic mind Gu, it could cause chaos among the enemies making them unable to differentiate between their allies and enemies. And when matched with vitality Gu, it had healing properties.
Tie Ruo Nan had spent around seven to eight days to be proficient in the combination of these four types of battle tactics. Thus, she was able to defeat close to a thousand mountain apes by herself.
"Ruo Nan, this child has an outstanding talent with high comprehension and more importantly, her nature is tenacious and resolute, she is indeed someone who will become a pillar of Tie clan." Tie Mu Bai watched this nearby with no expression on his face, but his heart was full of praises.
This old Tie clan leader had seen the rise of countless talents in his life and also witnessed the fall of innumerable geniuses.
He was very clear: In a dangerous and difficult environment, many outstanding geniuses would emerge. But talent was only one aspect, what mattered was the nature of the geniuses.
If a genius could put up with hardships and endure loneliness, they would definitely have great accomplishments in the future.
A genius that had poor disposition could only be a shooting star, shining for only an instant.
Why would Tie Mu Bai teach Tie Ruo Nan? On one hand, Tie Ruo Nan was blood-related to Tie Xue Leng, who had certain relationship with him; on the other hand, Tie Ruo Nan had been polished like limestone after a series of trials; all traces of impatience had gone leaving behind stability and perseverance.
Tie Ruo Nan was like an unpolished jade that let out dazzling light after being polished slightly.
"Old clan leader." Tie Ruo Nan climbed up the peak towards Tie Mu Bai and cupped her hands in greeting.
The girl was full of admiration and respect towards this old man.
Half a month ago, this old man Tie Mu Bai fought against two rank five experts of the demonic path by himself.
He first used rank five turn gold Gu to contend with the two demons easily. Then, he used rank five liquid metal Gu to make these two experts back out and weakened their fighting spirits; the battle finally ended with both sides relenting.
Tie Mu Bai's strength was like a basin of cold water that poured on the hearts of the demonic Gu Masters, causing their rising flames of angers to weaken in an instant.
The conclusion of the battle was that both righteous and demonic paths could contend for three kings inheritance. But everyone could clearly see how good Tie Mu Bai was and that he had not used his full strength.
"Good. Being able to grasp this flexible battle tactic in such a short time is remarkable." Tie Mu Bai praised indifferently as he casually waved his hand.
Whoosh!
A large cloud of golden needle Gu shot out.
However, different from Tie Ruo Nan's golden needle Gu, the golden needle Gu Tie Mu Bai commanded were extremely small like raindrops.
When they moved in the sky, they were like a cloud of golden fog.
The golden fog moved with the wind and brushed past an area of boulders. Pitter-patter sounds as if thousands of silkworms were eating mulberries came from the giant boulders.
Tie Ruo Nan's pupils shrunk, immediately realizing the amazing aspect of this move.
The golden fog infiltrated and penetrated the boulders, creating countless tiny holes in them. The trees nearby the boulders were also pierced through, all signs of life within them extinguished instantly.
If someone were struck by these Gu, their whole body and insides would be perforated and destroyed; it was a really terrifying killer move!
Tie Mu Bai casually waved his hand and threw out three golden needle Gu.
These three golden needles were, however, different; they were thick and long. Normal golden needle Gu had a finger sized length, but these three golden needles had palm sized length.
The three golden needle Gu flew and pierced into a mountain ape's head.
One shot like a perpendicular lightning, straight into the mountain ape from the top of its head, while the other two entered through the left and right temples; the needles almost completely entering the mountain ape's head with only a small portion remaining on the outside.
This mountain ape had been healed by Tie Ruo Nan and was just making its escape when it was struck by the golden needles.
The mountain ape let out a painful scream and leaped a couple of times, kneeling in front of Tie Mu Bai.
The ape's eyes were wide open with incomparable panic, dread and anger.
The strange thing was it could not control its body and kneeled down reverentially and without making any movements. It was not even able to let out a shout.
Tie Ruo Nan had never expected to see such a peculiar scene and was stupefied for a while.
Tie Mu Bai laughed and looked at the mountain ape at his feet, he indifferently said: "Golden needle Gu combined with create fog Gu can form golden fog. This golden fog looks faint and weak, but is actually extremely powerful and is specialized in breaking through Gu Master's defense. When I was twenty-eight and was roaming Southern Border, I used this move to dominate the region of Luchuan river."
Tie Mu Bai paused for a while and continued: "Golden needle Gu combined with puppet control Gu, can take control of living bodies. When I was forty-two and my cultivation advanced to rank four peak stage, I ended my closed cultivation and began to roam the world to test my skills. When I arrived at Tie Mu mountain, I was attacked by a group of over fifty demonic path mountain bandits. I used this move to make thirty-eight of them defect and finally captured all of them and got rid of these evil beings."
Tie Ruo Nan became more fascinated the more she heard.
Since her early years, she followed her father and travelled everywhere. And she had heard of this old clan leader's heroic deeds.
The old clan leader had A grade aptitude and revealed his talent the moment he started cultivating, becoming the number one youth star of Tie clan at that time. He also lived up to others' expectations, advancing to rank four peak stage before fifty.
He ended his secluded cultivation and roamed Southern Border, crossing mountains and rivers to test his skills, and made a name for himself.
After returning to Tie clan, he became the clan leader and brought Tie clan to new heights. For a while, Tie clan was in such limelight that it made Wu clan, Shang clan and the rest lose their splendor.
His whole life was filled with glory and brilliance. He had countless battle achievements under him, whether it was his lone achievements while roaming the Southern Border or leading a group of heroes to eliminate evil - he had few losses.
The way he did his work was unyielding and domineering, daring to stand directly up to the enemies; many of his enemies would be terror stricken at the mention of him when he was reigning. Even righteous path figures would feel mental pressure when they heard Tie Mu Bai's name.
Right now, as Tie Ruo Nan listened to the old clan leader recall those olden days indifferently, she became overwhelmed with emotions.
She could not help imagining a scene.
A hero at his prime, handsome and graceful, donning a blue robe, moved unhindered around the world. He defeated powerful enemies by himself, no one could block him and countless people watched him.
However, time was ruthless, turning that young man into an elderly.
But Tie Mu Bai was still Tie Mu Bai.
Even if he was more old, it could not hide his glorious deeds.
These battle accomplishments were a dazzling halo that covered his body and even the layers of dust of history could not block its radiance.
"Lord old clan leader, I will not let you down, golden needle Gu will not shame your name in my hands!" Tie Ruo Nan spoke resolutely.
The old man gratefully nodded and patted Tie Ruo Nan's shoulder.
"Child, you have a strong mind and our Tie clan's blood flows in your veins. You have to shoulder the responsibility of our Tie clan's children. I will teach you all that I know, and I hope that one day, you can be capable enough to raise the flag of Tie clan. I am leaving that little beast king Fang Zheng to you as your test, do you have confidence?"
"I have confidence and also have a plan. Old clan leader, you can rest assured, Fang Zheng has already completely fallen into the demonic path, I will definitely retrieve his head!" Tie Ruo Nan's eyes shone with resolute light.
"Good, do not be arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat, you are able to get out of your shock and derive strength from your tribulation, this is something that is impossible for many youngsters. As long as you maintain this, you will definitely become the glory of Tie clan! Now, I shall teach you the principle behind these two tactics along with my insights and experience in them, as well as all the other different combinations that can be derived."
Like this, one taught diligently and another did her best to learn.
After over an hour, Tie Mu Bai finished teaching everything: "Good, you can ask me anything you are unclear about."
Tie Ruo Nan had outstanding comprehension ability and had already engraved all the teachings into her mind.
However, she thought for a while and asked: "These days, I have found that the opening time of three kings inheritance has been getting shorter and the amount of Gu Masters that can enter has also been getting lesser. The three light pillars are no longer as thick and bright as before. Right now, there has been many rumors saying the blessed land is already nearing its end. Is this true?"
Tie Mu Bai nodded: "It is indeed so."
"You are still not ready to learn some things. All living things exist in balance - with darkness, there is light; with water there is fire; with blessing, there is calamity." His gaze turned towards the peak of San Cha mountain and sighed: "Every blessed land will face earthly calamity every ten years and heavenly tribulation every hundred years. This blessed land originated from a mysterious Gu Immortal from ancient times and was later was inherited by the three kings and remodelled into this inheritance site."
"This blessed land is already old, its lifespan is almost at its end. A land spirit could prolong this time, but unfortunately there is no land spirit here."
"A blessed land without a land spirit is an enormous boat that is sinking. Anyone can enter inside and plunder the treasures within. The more they plunder, the bigger the holes in this giant boat and the quicker it would sink. This Gu Immortal blessed land is already nearing its end and will only last for less than ten years before it is destroyed due to the exhaustion of immortal essence."