Qiu Zu: From an apprentice in a medicine shop to an immortal ancestor.

"No wonder Master An never considered taking disciples in the past."

Qiu Zhen, listening to An Huayu's endless chatter, suddenly understood.

Master An's four disciples, except for his youngest son An Huayu who only had a slight foundation, the other three either had top-tier talent or possessed a spiritual treasure body, each with extraordinary gifts.

Back then, he was too ordinary, just a slightly clever and diligent village youth.

It would have been a miracle if Master An had taken a liking to him.

Of course, Qiu Zhen didn't feel any "disappointment".

As a cultivator, he lived in seclusion amidst the bustling world, able to face everything with a calm heart, without causing any ripples.

Whether or not he became a disciple had little impact on him.

While Qiu Zhen and An Huayu were talking, An Jishi and An Kang arrived together outside the training field.

"Father (Master)"

The two greeted from afar.

An Huayu, who had been verbally attacking with great momentum, was now "wilted", appearing cautious and timid.

An Jishi glared at his youngest son, disliking An Huayu's "cautious and timid" demeanor, but he didn't scold him. His eyes fell on Qiu Zhen.

His pupils contracted.

Soon, An Jishi seemed to notice something and looked surprised:

"Such powerful Qi and blood, Xiao Zhen, your martial arts have greatly improved? Have you broken through the three barriers?"

An Kang, who had followed Master An into the courtyard, paused and looked surprised upon hearing this.

Another breakthrough?

How long has it been!

Less than a month, right?

Even a martial arts genius with top-tier talent wouldn't have such an astonishing cultivation speed.

Unless that top-tier martial arts genius disregarded hidden dangers and consumed spiritual herbs and treasures and various elixirs to break through.

Ordinary martial artists, even if they ate spiritual herbs and treasures as food, wouldn't absorb enough medicinal power to break through another barrier in less than a month.

An Kang was curious and couldn't help but turn to look at Qiu Zhen, who slowly nodded.

"Master has discerning eyes."

"You broke through?!"

An Huayu was very surprised:

"We were drinking together last night, and I clearly didn't see any signs of you breaking through. I still have that much discernment."

Qiu Zhen saw that An Huayu was asking, and Master An and An Kang were suspicious, but he didn't panic at all.

This was the benefit of establishing a "destined genius" persona, saving him from a long explanation. Everything had an excuse.

"Last night, after returning home and falling asleep, I seemed to be guided by a spiritual force in the dark, as if I was traveling through mountains and rivers, enjoying the world. When I woke up, I had broken through the third barrier, and my whole person was transformed, becoming incredibly strong and agile."

An Huayu was dumbfounded, as if listening to a myth.

An Kang's expression changed slightly.

"Young Master, could it be related to the strange phenomena in the mountains last night?"

An Jishi's expression remained unchanged. After a moment, he appeared in front of Qiu Zhen and touched him.

"This talent..."

An Jishi was shocked. This talent was somewhat unfamiliar, but he could vaguely feel that it was extraordinary, possibly top-tier.

Immediately, he couldn't help but take a deep breath and looked at Qiu Zhen meaningfully, saying with certainty:

"You must possess a great destiny."

The previous treasure hunting, the submission of demon beasts, and other phenomena only suggested that Qiu Zhen possessed a destiny, and there was a good chance it was a great destiny.

Now, seeing Qiu Zhen accidentally obtaining a fortuitous encounter, resonating with the mountains and land, and suddenly manifesting an unknown "top-tier talent", it was basically certain that he possessed a great destiny, leaving no room for doubt.

Previously, he had personally felt Qiu Zhen's talent, and it was not a hidden talent, but completely ordinary bones.

There were only two possibilities for a transformation in a short period of time.

One was the enlightenment of an immortal, and the other was the changing of fate by a great destiny.

Compared to the ethereal enlightenment of an immortal, Qiu Zhen was obviously a destiny transformation, reshaping his innate qualities.

In the past, there had been similar cases of great figures with great destinies defying the heavens and reshaping their innate qualities.

Qiu Zhen's face showed some confusion and curiosity, but his heart was very satisfied.

The "destined genius" persona was finally complete and perfect, and even Master An, with his demeanor of a grandmaster, had no doubts.

"Master, did something strange happen in the mountains last night?"

Qiu Zhen had just made it up casually, attributing all the encounters to destiny, so he didn't need to explain anything.

Unexpectedly, it was so coincidental that something really happened in the depths of the mountains last night, backing up his casual fabrication.

"There were indeed some strange phenomena in the mountains, which even attracted cultivators. The Demon Suppression Division fought a great battle with them, which was very lively."

An Jishi mentioned it casually, without saying much, but looked at Qiu Zhen and instructed:

"The strange phenomena in the mountains are related to you, but you don't need to think too much about it. For you, the most important thing is to practice martial arts well, so that you have the power to protect yourself and have a chance to compete for a sliver of heavenly fate."

Qiu Zhen nodded, agreeing with the importance of practicing martial arts with peace of mind.

Others didn't know, but he knew very well that he didn't have any heavenly fate phenomena. Everything was made up by himself.

"Please teach me, Master!"

An Jishi nodded slightly:

"You are good at archery, so you can make the most of your strengths. In addition, it's best to learn another martial art for defense, either fist techniques or weapons. What do you want to learn?"

"Whatever Master is best at, I will learn."

"Haha, you are quite clever. I am proficient in all eighteen weapons, there is no such thing as being good or not good at something."

An Jishi said this with great confidence, with a faint air of a martial arts grandmaster, but after saying this, he paused and said again:

"Perhaps, I prefer saber techniques. In the past, I entered the Innate realm with saber techniques, and I usually teach my disciples saber techniques."

Qiu Zhen wasn't picky about weapons. Hearing that Master An liked the saber, and he usually used a woodcutter's knife when going up the mountain, which was very handy, he immediately nodded:

"Master, then I will learn saber techniques."

"Very good."

An Jishi looked at his son and said:

"It just so happens that you and Huayu will learn the Innate martial art 'True Yang Saber Technique' with me."

Innate martial art?

Qiu Zhen was stunned.

To teach an Innate martial art right away was generous, but the problem was, could someone in the Acquired realm learn an Innate martial art?

"Haha~"

An Kang, perhaps guessing Qiu Zhen's thoughts, explained:

"Xiao Zhen, ordinary Innate martial arts can only be used by Innate experts, but the major sects have orderly inheritance, and countless experts have deduced and improved some Innate martial arts into 'Introductory Martial Arts', allowing those in the Acquired realm to learn and master them, improve their strength, and also assist in breaking through to the Innate realm, which can be said to be a win-win situation."

"It's just that these types of Innate martial arts are extremely difficult for Acquired martial artists."

After speaking, An Kang was also somewhat puzzled:

"Young Master, Xiao Zhen is only a third-barrier martial artist right now, and he hasn't even completed Acquired Refinement. Isn't it too early to teach him?"

"He has undergone a transformation and has strong Qi and blood, he can learn it."

An Jishi knew that Qiu Zhen now possessed an unknown "top-tier talent", and Acquired Refinement was no longer difficult, so he wasn't worried at all.

Immediately, he didn't explain and instructed the two to watch carefully. He was about to begin demonstrating the Innate martial art 'True Yang Saber Technique'.

An Huayu's spirits lifted, as if facing a formidable enemy, staring at his father without blinking.

Qiu Zhen, on the other hand, was constantly complaining inwardly.

Now, he finally understood why An Huayu kept complaining.

And why the previous three disciples of Master An were so miserable.

He hadn't even learned the basic saber techniques, and Master An was already teaching extremely profound Innate martial arts, which was too crude.

Perhaps, in Master An's eyes, basic saber techniques were very simple and could be supplemented later.

He only taught the core of martial arts that directly pointed to the true meaning of martial arts.

However, Qiu Zhen didn't think too much about it. He wasn't good at anything else, but he had high comprehension, not to mention the Yuan Shen Dharma Body to assist him.

He calmed his mind and focused his eyes on Master An.

He saw An Jishi wave his hand, and a thin saber appeared in his hand, and he swung it casually...

At first glance, there was nothing special about it, it looked like an ordinary saber strike.

But...

Qiu Zhen keenly noticed that at the moment An Jishi swung his saber, the Qi and blood in his body seemed to be ignited gunpowder, instantly becoming violent and fiery.

Even more shocking was that a fiery and terrifying martial arts intent swept across the entire training ground.

Vaguely, it seemed as if the surroundings had turned into a fiery purgatory...

"This is... True Yang Initial Movement. This martial art is closely related to cultivation..."

Qiu Zhen vaguely remembered the scene of the initial movement of True Yang in his body on the day of Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment.