One Year

　　As Old Wang faced his boss, Teng Qingshan, he hesitated slightly before replying, “Boss, I don’t want to talk about this. Please forgive me.”

　　Based on Old Wang’s expression, Teng Qingshan could tell that this matter was the imperative secret in Old Wang’s heart.

　　“Since you don’t want to say it, I won’t force you.” Teng Qingshan smiled and said, “However, Old Wang, you have followed me for over half a year. In this time, I could perceive that something has weighed heavily on your mind and that thing has been torturing you. You’ve lived every single day filled with worries because of this! I just want to tell you……”

　　“Regardless of what trouble and struggles you encountered, you need to confront them! Escaping cannot solve any problem!”

　　Old Wang’s expression grew more complicated, changing as emotions played out across his face.

　　“Boss!” Old Wang stared at Teng Qingshan and said, “I have two paths before me now, and I don’t know which path to go down!”

　　“There’s no need to ask me about this.”

　　Teng Qingshan focused his eyes on Old Wang as he spoke, “Old Wang, just remember one thing. No matter what path you choose and no matter what you have to do….”

　　“Just remember….”

　　“Don’t regret your decisions in the future!”

　　“Just make the choice that you won’t regret.” With those words, Teng Qingshan patted Old Wang’s shoulder gently and walked away.

　　“The choice that I won’t regret?”

　　Old Wang stood rooted in place, Teng Qingshan’s advice resonating in his mind.

　　“Right! The choice that I won’t regret!”

　　Old Wang’s eyes lit up. It appeared that the dilemma that he’d been struggling with for a very long time finally resolved itself.

　　“So what if I die? I’d die without a single regret!”

　　“Yes!”

　　The things that bothered Old Wang, all the mist and haze in his heart, vanished in that moment. Determination filled his heart, and a rare grin crept up onto his face. “Whether the result is life or death, I’ll have no regrets…”

　　The next morning, in the empty cavern.

　　Teng Qingshan was practicing the moves of his fist art with his eyes closed, the six stone inscriptions placed horizontally in front of him. A golden glow enveloped his entire body, the battle armor formed through the gold-colored Supreme Force!

　　“Big Brother Teng! Big Brother Teng!” A clear and melodious voice rang out through the cavern.

　　“Eh?” Teng Qingshan stopped practicing and submerged the golden Supreme Force surrounding him back into his body. He looked at Li Jun, confused at the interruption. He had already instructed Li Jun to not disturb him while he practiced his fist art. He also knew that… Li Jun was someone with a sense of propriety. Something significant must have occurred for her to come and interrupt his practice.

　　“Big Brother Teng, come here!” Li Jun stood on the stairs of the passageway and shouted. Little Ping, standing beside her, had a grim expression on her face.

　　Teng Qingshan walked over, puzzled, and inquired, “Little Jun, what’s the matter?”

　　“Old Wang left!” Li Jun answered quickly, the worry clear in her voice.

　　“Uncle, Uncle Wang has left!” Little Ping also answered anxiously.

　　Teng Qingshan frowned and responded, “He already left? He didn’t say his goodbyes?” Old Wang’s sudden departure was rather abrupt, but it was something that Teng Qingshan expected. After observing him for a half a year, Teng Qingshan noticed that something weighed heavily on Old Wang’s mind.

　　He had spoken to Old Wang about it just yesterday….

　　“It looks like my words caused him to make a decision.” Teng Qingshan thought to himself.

　　“Old Wang didn’t tell anyone he was leaving or say goodbye. When I went out to prepare breakfast, I noticed that he had disappeared. However, we found a letter in his house by the Crescent Moon Lake. The letter that he left was…for you, Big Brother Teng.” As Li Jun spoke, she handed Teng Qingshan a folded piece of paper.

　　“Letter?” Teng Qingshan took the paper and unfolded it.

　　“Boss.

　　Please forgive me departing without a single goodbye. I really didn’t know how to answer if all of you you asked me why I was leaving. Therefore, I chose to leave quietly! You were right yesterday about making a choice that I won’t regret. I made my choice…

　　Now, my heart is filled with ease.

　　Boss, please forgive me for deceiving you and the others for such a long time. My name is not Wang Yang, but Yang Wang! Haha, names are just a form of address anyway. Whether it’s Wang Yang or Yang Wang, I’ll still be that same Old Wang. I am still Boss’ coachman Old Wang.

　　If I have successfully solved my problem, if you don’t mind, I am willing to serve Boss for the rest of my life. I’ll be your coachman for the rest of my days.

　　From Old Wang.”

　　As he read those last few lines, Teng Qingshan showed a hearty smile.

　　“Uncle, so Uncle Wang’s real name is Yang Wang, instead of Wang Yang. He actually lied to us intentionally. I thought he was a friend…” Little Ping grumbled, but her eyes turned slightly red.

　　Since Old Wang started following Teng Qingshan, he spent a lot of time with Little Ping. Old Wang really cared about this little girl, and Little Ping felt a great deal of sadness from his departure.

　　Old Wang is an inner strength expert, but he was willing to become a coachman. He is a sword wielding expert, but carries a blade. It’s obvious that he’s hiding a secret…It’s not strange that he didn’t tell us his real name.” Li Jun remarked emotionally, “However, since Old Wang told us his real name before his left, it was a sign that Old Wang really did trust us.”

　　“Alright.”

　　Teng Qingshan shook his head and said, “Something troubled Old Wang’s mind, but he didn’t want to tell us about it. It’s apparent that he didn’t want us to know! Now that Old Wang has solved his inner conflict and decided to face his troubles and solve them, we should be happy for him. Little Jun, have you made breakfast?”

　　“It’s almost done.” Li Jun was slightly surprised at Teng Qingshan’s reply.

　　“Let’s go eat breakfast.” Teng Qingshan smiled and said, “I will practice later.”

　　Teng Qingshan knew that Li Jun, Little Ping, and Teng Shou were all saddened by Old Wang’s departure. Old Wang had been with them for such a long time, and all of them considered Old Wang a friend.

　　Old Wang’s departure was like the turbulence from a few waves during a long voyage. The lives of the few people that dwelt by the Crescent Moon Lake remained very peaceful.

　　Teng Qingshan focused completely on cultivation, aiming to comprehend the six stone inscriptions.

　　During this process of cultivation, Teng Qingshan asked Li Jun to notify the Rising Sun Trading Company that they should take back the Jiang Clan’s 9th stone inscription when she went out to buy groceries in Nanshan City. The 9th stone inscription no longer had any use to Teng Qingshan!

　　……

　　Amidst the darkness of the empty cave.

　　Teng Qingshan immersed himself in cultivation, he had no perception of how much time had lapsed. If not for Li Jun and the others, who often told him how much time had gone by, he probably wouldn’t even know how long he’d been cultivating.

　　Teng Qingshan completely comprehended the six stone inscriptions, from the first to the sixth, within two months!

　　As for the 12th stone inscription, Teng Qingshan spent three months and only understood parts of it. From that point on, he could no longer comprehend anymore of the content from the 12th stone inscription.

　　Therefore, Teng Qingshan began analyzing the 17th form, the 18th form, and the other two consecutive forms.

　　“One would need to start off from the earth element to pick up the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》and as one’s cultivation progresses, the metal element is gradually incorporated. The further one progresses, from the 17th form to the 20th form, the fire element is added in. With all three elements conglomerated into a single form, it would be very difficult to separate any of the elements out!

　　Although each of the four consecutive forms is an integration of ‘Earth Elemental Dao’ and the other two Daos, it does not incorporate all of the concepts from the ‘Earth Elemental Dao’ and the other two Daos. Its just an integration of parts of the concepts.

　　For example, the 17th form started off with the Fire Elemental Dao and only contained parts of the Earth Elemental Dao and the Metal Elemental Dao.

　　Now, what Teng Qingshan needed to do was—

　　Separate the《Earth Elemental Dao》,《Fire Elemental Dao》and《Gold Elemental Dao》that had merged into one in the forms. The more Elemental Daos he separated out, the more he comprehended. Teng Qingshan then merged those Elemental Dao into his own fist arts.

　　“Such a pity. If only I had the first 12 stone inscriptions from the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》. Teng Qingshan sighed emotionally.

　　Although the complete art had a total of 36 forms, the first 12 forms were the foundation!

　　According to Teng Qingshan’s understanding of the 12th form, the first 12 forms contained mostly the Earth Elemental Dao and the Metal Elemental Dao. These two Daos were not completely merged; thus, the separation of the two Daos was not very difficult. However, the higher the cultivation level, the harder it became!

　　“Unfortunately, the stone inscriptions are scattered all over the world, and it’s impossible to gather them in the way I want.”

　　“Yes, let’s continue comprehending. After several months of comprehending the consecutive four moves, my 《Earth Element Fist》 has improved slightly. As for my 《Fire Element Fist》, I have created until the fifth move. This is already considered good progress.” Teng Qingshan truly cherished his opportunity of possessing both the Splitting Mountain Axe and the stone inscriptions.

　　When the two were combined, it was like Emperor Yu was teaching him personally!

　　Emperor Yu taught by breaking up one form into several moves!

　　Emperor Yu is an Omnipotent Expert! The very first Omnipotent Expert in this world! He created the two great arts, 《The Heavenly Book of the Nine Cauldrons》and the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》. His understanding of Dao reached the pinnacle. Where can one find a teacher like this?

　　As for Teng Qingshan… Without anyone’s instruction, he learned from the Heavens and Earth itself and created the six moves of the 《Earth Element Fist》.

　　It is rare for one to possess such talent and aptitude.

　　Since Teng Qingshan was talented and Emperor Yu made his instruction easy to understand, it wasn’t strange for Teng Qingshan to make such quick progress.

　　The Crescent Moon Lake was covered with ice, and a great amount of War Hous suddenly arrived by the peaceful lakeside.

　　“Haha, Lady Jun.” A chubby elder jumped off his War Hou.

　　Li Jun stopped practicing and stared at the incoming figure in shock. She immediately said, “Second Elder, please sit.” and then shouted, “Little Ping, bring some tea.”

　　“Hehe, no need.” The Second Elder chuckled as he spoke, “Lady Jun, I have been ordered to ask Mister Teng to come with me.”

　　“Order? Whose order?” LI Jun asked in confusion.

　　The Second Elder whispered with a seldomly seen solemn expression on his face, “Dreamy.. Cloud…Martial…Immortal…”

　　When Li Jun heard these words, her face lit up with joy. She whispered back, “Is it perhaps because of the Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit?”

　　“Yes.” The Second Elder nodded and said, “Yes. It is because of the Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit…”

　　“The Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit has matured.”

　　“Big Brother Teng went to the Cloudy Dreamy Ancient City last year, and a year has passed since then. Some time ago, Big Brother Teng told me that…the Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit would be maturing soon. Personally, I didn’t think that it would take such a long time for an almost mature Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit to finally reach maturity.” Li Jun exclaimed in admiration.

　　Teng Qingshan discussed the matter of the Fruit with Li Jun.

　　At that time, the Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit was already as big as a fist. It had an azure colored skin, demonstrating that the fruit was very close to maturity.

　　However, the growth cycle of the Cloudy Dreamy White Fruit was apparently very long. It only matured after a year.

　　“Can I know where Mister Teng is?” The Second Elder asked.

　　“Big Brother Teng is cultivating.” Li Jun promptly answered, “I will notify Big Brother Teng…He’s always been very concerned about this matter. Second Elder, please wait here for a while.”

　　“I am not in any hurry.” The Second Elder chuckled.

　　Li Jun immediately ran towards the underground cave, where Teng Qingshan was cultivating in seclusion.