Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Wutian!” The little girl ran over.
Little Tian’s heart skipped a beat. It felt nothing amiss at a distance. But once getting close up, it discovered that this fire-red young man seemed like a stranger to him. So it got ready for any eventuality and would knock him out in case something happened.
“Don’t go there, little girl.” A teenager hiding in the bush stopped her by pulling at her dress.
“What’s the matter? Why are you afraid of him? He is not a bad guy,” the little girl explained.
The teenager’s face twitched. He kicked himself for being stupid and overly worried; Wutian went mad only because the little girl was bullied.
“Quickly talk to him. Don’t let him keep going like this anymore. He isn’t allowing us to pass!” The teenager pleaded and cried.
“Right, do it now. Otherwise, he is going to destroy everything around here,” said another person.
“Don’t be worried. My brother is very kind.” The two almost wanted to roll their eyes. He was kind? If he was kind, there would be no demon in this world.
“Help!”
A fourteen- or fifteen-year-old ran and occasionally looked back. His cultivation base was weak, and he did not know how to swim. What was more, he stayed in one of the Yellow Houses, which now had been destroyed. He had nowhere to hide and could only flee from the lakeside.
“Stop it, Wutian!” The little girl spread out her hands and stood behind the teenager. There was a light in her eyes as she muttered.
Thud!
A fist came. The teenager spun around, grabbed the little girl and rolled to one side, dodging the attack. The fist missed and hit the ground, sending the gravel flying in all directions.
“Stop!” Wutian roared, but there was no sound. He had no control over his body and attacked Shishi. He wanted to drive out the mysterious power and get the control. But he did not know where to begin.
“What happens, Wutian? You devil, leave my brother’s body!” The little girl was apparently shocked. But she knew Wutian did not mean it. It was the thing hiding inside him that did that.
Wutian’s body did not respond to his command. As his hand struck down, Wutian was desperate. If this palm of his hit her, she would be severely wounded, if not die.
“Caw!”
Little Tian’s body glowed in a black light. It lunged up and collided with the first with a boom. It wailed and was sent flying out several thousand feet away before falling into the lake.
“Stop!” Wutian roared. But it was useless. The little girl’s dress fluttered from the blast of his fist. Her eyes welled up and tears flowed down her cheeks, pleading for the devil to leave Wutian’s body.
“Aah! Get out!”
Wutian was desperate. He had promised to take care of Shishi for life. Yet, he was going to be the person who killed her.
All of a sudden, a milky light shot out of his forehead, shrouding his body. His fist stopped, hair rapidly returning to black from red. The same thing happened to his skin, the natural color of which returned. At last, his eyes became black again, as if a pair of shiny black jades.
Thud!
He dropped down on his knees. As if he was the one starting the fight earlier, he went weak at the knees. At last, he clambered to his feet. Staggering up to the little girl, he drew her in his arms. He was scared to death.
“I am sorry, Shishi. I almost killed you.” Wutian apologized and felt incredibly guilty.
“I don’t blame you, Wutian. It was that devil that controlled you.” Her tears stopped as she let out a bright smile.
Little Tian jumped out of the water, baring its teeth in anger and displeasure. It pointed at its bleeding abdomen, made a few gestures, which basically meant ‘You have got to compensate me for the damage and injury.’
“Let’s get back inside first.” Wutian was very weak, feeling dizzy and his vision blurry. He must not stay here any longer. Otherwise, those whom he had offended earlier would come after him.
“I am sorry, everyone.” He just apologized but did not explain himself. Once back inside the house, he shut the door.
“Phew! It has finally ended!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Had the scuffle continued, the entire Zhao family residence could have been torn down.
“He is really terrifying. We cannot afford to aggravate him next time.” They were blacklisting Wutian and would avoid him like a plague.
“I’m tired to death! I didn’t expect he could be this ferocious.”
The young man in purple lay by the lakeside and took a deep breath. It was luck that no one was hurt. Things arose because of him. He could have hardly absolved himself from the blame if any untoward things happened.
“Eh?”
The young man fished out a purple emblem. The palm-sized emblem had a character engraved on it, but it was too blurry to see clearly. He looked at the emblem and was transfixed, then broke out in a sinister smile.
“Interesting! It is you.”
His smile was evil. He rose to his feet and walked toward the front courtyard. He needed to clean up the mess that he had left behind.
“I was scared to death just now, Wutian!” Inside the house, Shishi patted herself on the chest, visibly still in fear. Yet she looked adorable.
“Ow…” Yi looked up with a puzzled expression in its eyes.
“Yi asks what that devil is and why it was inside you, Wutian.” The little girl explained.
“Caw, caw!” Little Tian appeared not very friendly. It was baring its fangs and waving its claws.
“Little Tian says you should drive that thing out and it will devour it alive and refine it into the Essence.” The little girl became his interpreter.
“Sikong Lie, the God of War.”
Wutian took out the ring from underneath his clothes and frowned. He heard what those people had discussed earlier. If what they said and the cave were anything to go by, this ring must belong to Sikong Lie.
“So it was this ring that caused the mess, Wutian?” asked the little girl in puzzlement.
Little Tian saw that and was furious. It pounced at the ring and bit it in its mouth. A loud clunk followed by a silverish white tooth and the ring came out of its mouth.
“Caw, caw!”
Little Tian cupped its mouth, jumping up and down as it cried aloud.
“That thing is tough!” Wutian was also surprised. Little Tian’s teeth could crush rock like eating tofu, yet it broke its tooth trying to crush the ring. Its teeth even left no bite mark on the ring.
Little Tian scratched its head in embarrassment. It picked up the broken tooth and put it back in its mouth. The tooth snapped snuggly in place. Only then, it stared at the ring but dared not to do anything about it.
Wutian took out the parchment and carefully browsed through it. After a few moments, something caught his attention, as if he had a lightbulb moment.
According to the record on the parchment, Sikong Lie had lived a thousand years ago. This person was incredibly powerful. He did not possess any supernormal knowledge. But his physical ability had made him famous. Later, people called him the God of War.
In that era, he was unstoppable. No one dared to go into a confrontation with him. It could be said that he was the lord of the land, and he had unified the Samsara Continent. And Finest Realm was his unique skill.
But the parchment did not contain any record of the ring.
“My father used to say that after the powerful ones of the ancient times died, they left behind their souls of war, reposing inside something eternal, hoping to find their successor this way,” said the little girl.
“The souls of war?”
Wutian frowned. He had never heard such a thing. But if what she said was true that a soul of war possessed the ring, it must but Sikong Lie.
Was he trying to hint something when he controlled my body to perform a Finest Realm? Wutian was puzzled.
He closed his eyes and recalled every move he had performed earlier. The penny dropped when he realized that it seemed to be a fist technique that took something from every school of martial arts, combining the best into one, not really bothered about exterior but the essence.
With his eyes still slightly closed, Wutian suddenly got up. He spread out his hands, sometimes clenching them into fists, sometimes palms, sometimes only extending a finger.
“Caw!” Little Tian cawed as it pointed at its head.
“Don’t say that. Wutian isn’t mad or suffering from seizure. He must have figured out something. Don’t disturb him,” said the little girl.
Little Tian rolled its eyes, wanting to kick Wutian. But the little girl stopped it, explaining to it that while Wutian was having insight, he must not be disturbed. Otherwise, it could interrupt him, or cause injury or even death. No joke.
Wutian’s mouth twitched as it stared at the ring, transfixed, wondering what divine artifact it was. This black metal junk was so solid that it broke its tooth. Now he regretted giving it away.
The punch was solid; the palm was soft; the finger was swift, and the kick was steady. Wutian carefully dissected every move to understand its essence. Gradually, he figured out something.
There was softness in strength. Using softness to overcome strength. Slowness in speed to defeat speed. Probably these were the secrets of how Sikong Lie, the God of War, achieved invincibility. Not only that, he did not use the vital energy of the Essence, but just physical strength.
In fact, Sikong Lie had infused the Essence into his every body cell and all in one point. The vast amount of Essence was tweaked into a line. It became very thin, but its power increased multiple fold and exhaustion rate reduced.
At first, Wutian’s movement was unnatural, and he was making mistakes and cumbersome. But after practicing a few rounds, he finally got the hang of it and his movement became agile.
When Zhao Kuang came back, he was bringing a few teenagers with him. It looked like they were the talents they had invited from the outside. When he got to the rear courtyard and saw the destruction, he was shocked beyond word.
The teenagers behind him had their jaws drop to the ground. “Did you say earlier that this place was elegant and serene, an ideal place for practicing cultivation?”
“Err, I have no idea. Let me first check it out.” Zhao Kuang was embarrassed. Even the bridge was gone. What was going on?
“Hey, I was looking high and low for you, Zhao Kuang!” Right then, the young man in purple came up, looking friendly as he put his arm around Zhao Kuang.
“What happened here, Han Tian?” asked Zhao Kuang.
The young man in purple’s face blushed. “This is the reason I am looking for you. The young man in the ninth house and I were having a friendly match just now. While we were at it, we accidentally caused this mess. I was so sorry and wanted to apologize to you. But you were nowhere to be seen.”
“I see. It is all right, as long as everyone enjoys it.” Zhao Kuang played it down, but his facial muscles were twitching. Apparently, he was not all right.
“You are a magnanimous man, Zhao Kuang. Let us be friends. By the way, where is everyone in your family? The place is empty. Not a soul could be seen around here.”
“There is something that you may not have known, Brother Han Tian. The test is coming up in just a little over a month. My father and others are working around the clock in the town to prepare for the test,” said Zhao Kuang.
“I see. The Zhaos are really a staunch follower of the Yan Clan. I think I should not bother you anymore.” The young man in purple left, walking on water as he headed back to the Eight Heaven House.
Zhao Kuang cupped his hands. “I am afraid that this place may not be suitable for now. Please follow me to the other courtyard where it is more or less the same. That place is neat, and no one is going to disturb you all.”
“After you!” The few teenagers smiled as they followed Zhao Kuang.
The sun had set, and it was nightfall.
After practicing for a few hours, Wutian’s movement became more and more natural and agile. He had figured out the essence of this technique. He was now rather good in the movement, but he still needed some time to work out the pith of it.
He shouted as he performed a last punch, then retracted his hand and opened his eyes.
“This technique is inspired by the God of War Sikong Lie. I will call it the God of War Secret Manual.”