"Good… good wine!"
A staggering figure wobbled forward, arms flailing, a slurred laugh bubbling from his chest. He was utterly soaked in the spirit.
"Hahahaha, this wine is truly delicious!"
As he moved one careless foot, he heard a distinct, sickening crack beneath his heel.
"Hm?"
The sound pierced the drunken haze, clearing his head just enough for him to bend down awkwardly.
"I… I think I came to the wrong place. Is this… the flower garden?"
"Drank too much. Way too much," he muttered, his tongue thick and tangled.
"Flowers… sweet flowers, I'm sorry. Situ Zhong accidentally stepped on you. I apologize! I apologize!"
The alcohol surged again, mixing remorse with mirth. Situ Zhong laughed, then, to his own confusion, tears began to stream down his face.
With a loud plop, he gave up on standing and simply collapsed into the flowerbed, his thrashing limbs crushing countless blooms under a drunken delirium.
The racket he created was significant, loud enough to puncture the deep silence of cultivation.
Qin Yi, seated cross-legged nearby, snapped his eyes open.
"Who dares make such noise here?" he barked, his voice sharp and cold as ice, his gaze cutting like lightning toward the source of the sound.
Hearing the harsh voice, Situ Zhong froze, then slowly looked up, his eyes widening in terror.
"Se–Se–Senior Martial Uncle!!"
The distinctive robes and the aura of command instantly sobered him faster than any shock. He jolted to his feet as if struck by lightning.
"What is your name?" Qin Yi asked, his cold gaze sweeping over the trembling disciple. His mood was foul.
Since Sect Lord Xu Zhangqing had left, Qin Yi had devoted himself to an intense period of comprehension, pushing his realm again to the Fourth Level: Learning the Dao. He was now pressing hard against a formidable bottleneck to the fifth. The path grew exponentially harder with each step, and this abrupt, needless noise had ruined his concentration at a critical moment.
"D–Disciple Situ Zhong."
Qin Yi's expression remained unchanged. He simply stretched out his right hand and closed his fingers.
Buzz!
A powerful suction force burst from the air, causing the flowers and grass to bend violently toward him. Before Situ Zhong could even register the phenomenon, he was yanked off the ground, pulled through the air, and slammed to a halt directly before Qin Yi.
"Senior Martial Uncle!"
All traces of alcohol evaporated. The Elder before him, though unfamiliar, clearly possessed terrifying strength, a True Essence so powerful it could manipulate objects across a distance. His ability was far, far beyond that of Situ Zhong, a naturally gifted but still entry-level disciple of Mount Shu.
"Disturbing my cultivation. Situ Zhong, you are quite bold."
Thin concentric ripples momentarily flashed across Qin Yi's eyes, the Rinnegan. As he stared down, Situ Zhong felt his heart seize with sheer terror.
"D–Disciple was wrong… I drank too much… I sincerely apologize, Senior Martial Uncle."
"Wine? You dare drink on Mount Shu?"
Qin Yi let out a cold, almost amused laugh. The young man's audacity was remarkable. Mount Shu, while relatively free compared to other sects, still maintained strict rules, and this novice had openly disregarded them, compounding his sin by destroying a large section of the Elder's private garden.
"It seems the Laws and Morals Elder is neglecting his duties. I shall act in his place and offer you some discipline."
Qin Yi's eyes narrowed. The force gathered in his hand twisted, then reversed.
"Shinra Tensei." (Almighty Push.)
Situ Zhong was instantly slammed away, a jet of blood coughing from his mouth as he flew backward, his face bleached white with shock and pain. The Elder's strength was simply overwhelming. He had reached the Fourth Level of Learning the Dao himself, yet he possessed absolutely no capacity to resist.
Expressionless, Qin Yi gently played with the shimmering coil of True Essence in his hand.
The repulsive force, a signature ability of the Rinnegan, was completely different now than when he used Chakra. With Chakra, the power was spread out, difficult to precisely control in intensity or direction, and always followed by a distinct cooldown period.
But when channeled through True Essence, that same repulsive and attractive force underwent a magnificent transformation, becoming exponentially more precise and infinitely controlled.
This new, refined utility immediately captured Qin Yi's interest.
It seems these former Bloodline Limits and Ninjutsu will undergo new transformations when cast with True Essence, he realized, a cold sense of excitement stirring within him. They will become techniques, not innate limits.
He rose and, in a few silent strides, appeared before the bruised and shaking Situ Zhong, his gaze unwavering.
"Situ Zhong, do you admit your mistake?"
"D–Disciple… disciple knows his mistake!" Situ Zhong gritted out, battling the pain. Inwardly, he was frantic, wondering who this Elder was, he'd never seen him before, yet his power was devastating.
"Go. Remember this punishment. Do not disturb my cultivation again." Qin Yi commanded indifferently.
Situ Zhong didn't dare utter another word. He quickly scrambled to his feet and fled in a terrified panic. He would certainly remember Elder Chang Yi from this day forward.
Watching the retreating figure disappear, Qin Yi returned to his spot, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to resume his task.
The fifth level... it's already getting difficult. If I can push through after some more time, that would be ideal. If not, I'll take a break to study the classics and seek further comprehension, he decided.
He steadied his mind, his purpose clearer than ever. His current fighting strength was comparable to the Sixth Level: Contacting the Dao, but his fundamental realm was lagging. He needed to raise his realm to match his power. A mismatch between strength and realm was a flaw, and he would never achieve true perfection if he carried an imbalance.
The worlds of Hokage and One Piece had valued only raw power, ignoring the nurturing of the inner self. Immortal Cultivation, by contrast, advanced Essence, Qi, and Spirit together, without imbalance, without flaws.
Compared to the limited power he once possessed, Qin Yi was no longer simply cultivating. He was integrating his entire lifetime of experience and knowledge, merging everything he had learned across multiple worlds into one complete, flawless system.
After bolting from the flower garden, Situ Zhong practically crashed into a familiar cold-faced, sharp-browed man walking toward him.
"Dugu Yuyun!" he cried out immediately.
Dugu Yuyun caught the reek of alcohol and frowned. "You were drinking again?"
He then noticed the streak of blood at the corner of Situ Zhong's mouth. "You're injured? What happened?"
"I barged into the flower garden and was discovered by an Elder. He gave me a beating. I brought it on myself." Situ Zhong explained bitterly.
"The flower garden? The one who stays there is Elder Chang Yi. He wasn't cultivating. How could he have injured you?" Dugu Yuyun's eyes narrowed as he asked in a deep voice.
"Not cultivating? Impossible. When he struck, he didn't use much True Essence, but the force behind the attack definitely reached the Sixth Level." Situ Zhong's voice was still thick with shock.
"Sixth level?" A flicker of profound doubt crossed Dugu Yuyun's face.
The Sixth Level wasn't high, he himself had already reached the Eighth Level: Achieving the Dao. But the last time he had encountered Senior Martial Uncle Chang Yi, that Elder had possessed not even the slightest trace of cultivation.
"You go back and rest. I'll take a look." Dugu Yuyun instructed, his gaze troubled.
He continued toward the flower garden. Shortly after, he entered the perimeter and saw Qin Yi cultivating, the powerful currents of Spiritual Qi making his presence undeniable.
"Fourth Level of Learning the Dao… currently pushing toward the fifth."
Dugu Yuyun's pupils contracted in shock. "So it really is Senior Martial Uncle Chang Yi."
But then he recalled Situ Zhong's claim of Sixth Level combat strength, and his expression grew deeply serious.
After a moment of charged silence, he raised his right hand, the fingers snapping into a precise sword-shape. After a brief, internal hesitation, testing an Elder was highly irregular, he finally pointed forward.
"Sword Controlling Technique."
He simply couldn't hold back. He needed to test this Senior Martial Uncle, who had gone from having no cultivation to possessing enough power to easily injure a high-level disciple in what must have been mere weeks.
(End of this chapter)
You can read ahead up to 15 chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395