There was a large screen in the room, and in the screen, a running spring hung upside down from the top of the mountain like a jade dragon, splashing the sky full of jade.

It's just a painting, an ordinary painting painted with oil paint, but it's a vivid painting, quite a master's hand. This sentence should not be placed in the restaurant, but in the study of the dignitaries, hanging in the most conspicuous place so that they can watch it at any time, and then at this moment, it is printed on a large screen.

No painting, no matter how precious it may be, appears in a place where it should not be, and so does this master-quality painting, which has been placed in the room for a long time, and no one can see it, and perhaps one day it will be annihilated with the city that never sleeps in the desert.

There were only two people in the room, a man and a woman, the man was handsome and the woman was beautiful.

This is supposed to be a harmonious picture, but the man is drinking, and the woman is watching the man drink, without blinking, and the two of them are like people in the painting, mechanically repeating the previous movements.

The man is Yan Chiyang, and the woman is Qin Xiang'er.

After Yan Chiyang lost to Qingzhu Sect, he didn't pay attention to anyone, and left with hatred, he didn't understand what he had lost to, but it was an undoubted fact that he lost.

He couldn't find any excuse for his failure, so he could only drink to kill his sorrows.

After glass of wine, he became more and more sober, until finally, his tongue was numb, but his spirit was incredibly clear.

"What kind of wine is this?" he said, his tone low as that of a prisoner in a cage.

"Ordinary wine. Qin Xiang'er spoke, her eyes not leaving Yan Chiyang's left and right.

To be honest, she finally breathed a sigh of relief at this moment, because Yan Chiyang had been drinking non-stop before, and had not even said a word, and that strange silence made her feel uneasy;

A person who can talk is always more reliable than a person who can't even speak, and this analogy is like a comparison between an animal and a puppet.

Yan Chiyang continued to say in a cold tone, "How do I feel like water?"

Qin Xiang'er smiled and said, "Even if your tongue can't taste it, your nose should be able to smell it, even if your nose is out of order, your lips should be able to feel it, even if your lips are numb, your stomach will tell you the truth." After a pause, she stared at Yan Chiyang with a different gaze, "You know that this is wine, there is no doubt about it, because the more you drink the wine, the hotter it gets, and the more you drink the water, the colder it gets." ”

"No, this is water!" Yan Chiyang stared at her, with a different light in his eyes: "How can wine become more sober the more you drink? This is just a kind of water with the aroma of wine, the taste of wine, and the aftertaste of wine." This is not really wine. ”

His hand swept heavily over the table, sweeping away the flasks and glasses. After a series of clanging sounds, the room was quiet again, as quiet as a lonely grave in the mountains.

A figure appeared in the doorway.

Qin Xiang'er's eyes lit up, and she turned her head and snorted coldly: "Go back, you can't come over without my greeting!"

The figure didn't answer, bowed slightly, turned and left.

Qin Xiang'er turned her head and stared at Yan Chiyang, her eyes full of unbearability. I can't bear to see him in pain, I can't bear to see him give up on himself, and I can't bear to see him ignorant of the facts.

She walked over, gently held Yan Chiyang's arm, opened her lips lightly, and said, "Brother Yan, forget it." Don't fight anymore, and don't grab anymore. ”

She could feel that hand twitched suddenly, this twitching was not obvious, a slight tremor of tofu in the air, but how could she hide it from Qin Xiang'er.

Her eyes were full of worry.

"What do you mean by not fighting? What do you mean by not robbing? Can you tell me?" Yan Chiyang sneered, "I'm afraid even you understand that it's impossible, I'm in the Chixia Sect, not in the Qinxiang Pavilion, the Qinxiang Pavilion can not care about this, the Chixia Sect can't not care." ”

"What do you care about?" Qin Xiang'er said, "Worldly honors, the strange treasures in the pagoda, do the old antiques of the Chixia Sect really believe what Sikong Blood said, if things are really as good as Sikong Blood said, will he make all this public?"

Yan Chiyang listened, silent, his lips trembling slightly, as if he had a lot to say, but when the words came to his mouth, he swallowed them again.

Just as Qin Xiang'er said, what does he care about? Is it a secular honor? Or is it a treasure? Who knows?

No one knew what Sikong Blood was thinking, nor did he know what the elders of the Chixia Sect were thinking, Yan Chiyang probably didn't even understand what he was thinking.

He raised his head and stared at Qin Xiang'er, staring at this face that was not beautiful, but extraordinarily charming, and suddenly pulled her whole person into his arms, his movements were rude like a reckless man, without any manly demeanor, but Qin Xiang'er suddenly laughed.

"You don't understand, do you?" she said, "and if you don't understand, why do you have to fight for it?"

Before he could speak, he was interrupted by Yan Chiyang: "I understand, I understand everything." His voice was unusually low, as if an invisible beast was bound in it.

"I know everything, but you don't. He let out a long breath and said, "The Chixia Sect is just a superficial scenery. ”

Qin Xiang'er sighed in her heart and blurted out, "What happened to the Chixia Sect?"

Yan Chiyang was silent for a long time, staring at Qin Xiang'er, sighed, and finally spoke: "This is not something you should know, but it is not a secret, and it doesn't hurt to tell you." ”

Qin Xiang'er listened.

Yan Chiyang shook his head and continued, "Do you know how long it has been since the Chixia Sect has produced a true Condensation Stage master?"

Without waiting for Qin Xiang'er to answer, he himself answered: "Ten years, there has not been a real master of the Concentrating Period for ten years. His tone was full of the loneliness and unwillingness of the strong man in his twilight years, "It's hard to imagine that the former number one sect in the Southeast Region has not produced a real concentrating stage master for ten years, but I want to tell you, this is a fact, a secret that everyone knows." ”

"How can this be?" Qin Xiang'er asked.

Yan Chiyang replied: "There are three ways to break through the condensation period, the first is to break through with your own strength, when you concentrate in half a step, you will continue to compress your true qi until your strength is enough to break through the shackles, and finally achieve double concentrating on your body and soul."

As he spoke, he shook his head, "Sounds good, but how many people can really break through with this? After all, a person's physical body has a limit to store true qi, and no matter how much flesh there is, it will collapse, and the martial artists who can break through with this method are all the kind of people who are mentally tough and talented, and this kind of person is one in ten thousand." ”

Qin Xiang'er nodded and said, "That's right, I heard that throughout the ages, martial artists who can break through the condensation stage in this way have achieved very high achievements in the future, and some can even reach that realm." ”

Yan Chiyang said: "Yes, as long as they don't fall halfway, it is indeed possible to reach that realm." He paused and said, "But after all, this method can only be applied to a very small number of people, even if I don't dare to try it." ”

"There is also a kind of taking the Barrier Breaking Pill, don't mention it, it's just a pseudo-condensation period, not only can the strength not continue to grow, but the combat effectiveness is also lower than the real condensation period masters, but any martial artist who feels that he has hope of breaking through will not use this method. ”

Qin Xiang'er smiled bitterly and said, "The pavilion masters of each generation of my Qinxiang Pavilion must be masters of the Condensation Period, and most of them have broken through with the Barrier Breaking Pill. You think it's a bad way, but many people rush to it. ”

Yan Chiyang shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I didn't mean that. ”

Qin Xiang'er waved her hand and said, "I understand, you can continue."

Yan Chiyang sighed and continued: "This third method, which is also the recognized method of breaking through the true concentrating period, is to find a strange treasure and cut one of the three souls of the human body on top of the strange treasure, and replace the human body with the body of the strange treasure. ”

Qin Xiang'er said: "This is a good method, at least it is easier to achieve than the first method, I think most people will choose this method." ”

"Here's the problem," Yan Chiyang said with a wry smile, "Most people will choose this ordinary method of contemplation period, but the exotic treasure is limited after all, although the exotic treasure will fall again after the fall of the master of the condensation period, and become an ownerless thing, how can the master of the condensation period fall easily? Even if it falls, most of them will self-detonate the exotic treasure, and no one will get it, so the number of exotic treasures is getting smaller and smaller." ”

Qin Xiang'er is a smart person, Yan Chiyang said this, she already understood a little, her eyes flashed at the moment, and she said softly: "What do you mean?"

Yan Chiyang smiled bitterly and said, "The treasures of the Chixia Sect have been exhausted. ”

Qin Xiang'er was silent, she suddenly understood that the reason why Yan Chiyang wanted to break into the Linglong Pagoda so desperately was not for himself, but for the entire sect, and for the sake of the sect's proud continuation, he did not hesitate to put himself in danger.

After a long time, Qin Xiang'er finally spoke: "This is the secret of the Chixia Sect, you tell me if it will-"

Yan Chiyang waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about this, although this matter is not well known, most of the high-level sects in the Southeast Region should know about it, because they are also facing the same dilemma as my Chixia Sect." ”

He sighed and said: "After all, the Southeast Region is a small domain, and it is not as good as the magical land in the East, nor can it be compared to the sunset city like the Western Regions, which is the ice and snow kingdom in the north, although the living conditions are harsh and the monsters are rampant, but in terms of the number of strange treasures, it is not a few, so how to get enough foreign treasures and let the sect people successfully break through the contemplation period is almost a problem that the entire Southeast Domain sect must face,"

He sneered, and said: "If I guess correctly, those people are probably also because of this, so they are eager for the Linglong Pagoda; ”

Qin Xiang'er said, "But didn't you take into account the danger?" she couldn't help but hug Yan Chiyang's arm, "I don't want you to take risks." ”

Yan Chiyang smiled bitterly and said, "Is there anything in this world that doesn't need to be risked? If you want to succeed, you must go through these hardships and obstacles, and no martial artist's cultivation is smooth sailing. ”

"But it's not your turn, are you the hope of the Chixia Sect?" Qin Xiang'er almost cried. ”

Yan Chiyang gently stroked away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said softly: "Fool, if I don't go, who else will go? Who doesn't know the danger of this trip, and who wants to put himself in danger? As the first core disciple of the Chixia Sect, if I don't take the lead, I'm afraid no one will go." ”

Qin Xiang'er was silent, she didn't know the truth, but if she watched her lover take risks, no one would be able to stop her heart.

But soon, she laughed and said, "Okay, it's useless to talk about this now, can the Chixia Sect defeat the team in Yunzhou? They defeated the Qingzhu Sect, but you lost to the Qingzhu Sect." ”

Yan Chiyang's face was bitter, losing a martial arts competition to Qingzhu Sect may be the most painful and inexplicable failure in his martial arts career, until this moment he didn't understand, what kind of strange treasure defeated him, could make his limbs weak, and drain the strength of his body, what kind of strange treasure was that?

He knew that Shangguan Pavilion had a hundred-knot quail robe, but even if it was that strange treasure, it would not be so powerful.

Yan Chiyang was reluctant to admit his defeat – no one wanted to.

He tried to hide this, and then his trembling hands betrayed him, and under Qin Xiang'er's sharp gaze, he had to compromise.

"Okay, I admit that just like you said, I lost to the Qingzhu Sect, but that didn't prevent me from defeating the Yunzhou City home team. ”

He laughed, thinking of Han Chuang, the swordsman who had once outperformed him in swordsmanship. Of course, that's just a victory in swordsmanship, and if you really have to try, whoever loses may not win.

Qin Xiang'er frowned slightly, and said, "What if they also take out a strange treasure?"

"What are you a strange treasure?" Yan Chiyang laughed, "Wei Zhenye's daughter has a strange treasure, and she also used it in the competition, which is the clothes that are draped on her, but her strength is too weak to exert the full power of the strange treasure. ”

Qin Xiang'er smiled: "So you are very confident?"

Yan Chiyang fell silent, and his mind couldn't help but recall Han Chuang's shocking swordsmanship, not only the swordsmanship he used to defeat him in the woods, but also the sword moves used to break through the hundred-knotted quail cloak today, these images were like slides, passing through his mind one by one.

To this day, he had to admit that Han Chuang was a very threatening opponent, and although the two had never fought with all their might, Yan Chiyang could clearly feel this.

The smile on Qin Xiang'er's face disappeared and was replaced by a stern one: "I understand, you are not sure." ”

Yan Chiyang said with a smile: "Nothing in this world is 100 percent, just like no one thought that the Chixia Sect would lose to the Qingzhu Sect, but we lost. ”

Qin Xiang'er shook her head and said softly, "But I saw fear in your eyes. ”

"Fear?" Yan Chiyang laughed, "Do you think in my eyes, you will see such a thing?"

"Why not?" Qin Xiang'er said, "You said that nothing is 100 percent. ”

Yan Chiyang shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "Okay, I admit that I can't say anything about you, you use my words to make me speechless, but I can only shut you up with practical actions." ”

Qin Xiang'er was silent, as if chewing on Yan Chiyang's words, and after a long time, she spoke: "Can you really do it? That person, that person defeated Shangguan Pavilion." ”

Yan Chiyang sighed, stroked Qin Xiang'er's soft hair, and said softly: "Xiang'er, I know what you want to say, although Shangguan Pavilion is a master of the Contemplation Period, I may not have a chance to defeat him, although that person defeated Shangguan Pavilion with a very wonderful sword technique, he may not be able to defeat me." ”

Qin Xiang'er could hear a kind of ambition from Yan Chiyang's tone, but this ambition carried a kind of sadness of a strong man's twilight years, like a glass of ice sinking to the bottom of the water, which was being eroded little by little.

Qin Xiang'er sighed, naturally leaned her head on Yan Chiyang's shoulder, and said softly: "Okay, I know I can't persuade you, I know that you must pursue what you want to pursue, but remember that you still have me, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you can come back safely." ”

Yan Chiyang took Qin Xiang'er into his arms and sniffed her hair, which was like wine, which was intoxicating.

He suddenly had a strange thought: winning or losing seemed to have become something that didn't matter, and there was only one thing he really cared about - the woman in his arms.

As the night fell, the fog lifted, revealing a bright ray of moonlight, which calmly cast onto the edge of the window.

"Don't worry, win or lose, I'll be back. Yan Chiyang said that he never makes promises easily, but once he makes a promise, he will do his best to fulfill it.

Qin Xiang'er laughed, her eyes lit up, her lips opened lightly, and she said softly: "Then rest early, and we will meet the big battle tomorrow." ”

Yan Chiyang shook his head and said, "You don't understand that I am a person, every time I face an enemy, I have to drink, and the more I drink, the better I play, so this drinking is-"

When he said this, he suddenly swallowed, because he saw Qin Xiang'er's sharp eyes, as if he was laughing.

He understood that what he was saying was not the truth, but a kind of sophistry for the sake of profligacy, but he was seen through by the woman, and the naked ridicule was still a little shameless.

"Alright, alright, I'm going to rest. Yan Chiyang said helplessly.

Qin Xiang'er laughed at this time, and said softly: "That's right, have a good night's rest, and only tomorrow will you have the strength to fight viciously, since you have decided to fight, then you must win." ”

Yan Chiyang nodded and said, "That's nature, I will definitely win!"

He clenched his fists, and the flames in his eyes almost burst out.