“…Descending the mountains… arrange well….time..people….Commander….”
Waves of low-sounding voices drifted over from far away. At this moment, the mountain wind was blowing extremely strongly. As a result, most of the words had been scattered by the wind, leaving only a small portion of the conversation that made its way into Han Li’s ears.
Han Li was astounded to think that he had managed to discover a portion of their secret. In this region, the only person with the title of Commander was the “Golden Wolf” Jia Tianlong from the Feral Wolf Gang. This person had great enmity with the Seven Mysteries Sect. Now that Han Li had heard his name in this remote location, it provided much food for thought.
Jia Tianlong was a ruthless, blood-drinking demonic figure in the eyes of the Seven Mysteries Sect’s disciples. Rumors told that he was a broad-shouldered man with a fat waist, long teeth, and a livid face. He supposedly ate human flesh and drank human blood three times a day. Many of the Seven Mysteries Sect’s junior disciples were frightened out of their wits just by hearing the rumors of such a devilish figure.
However, according to Li Feiyu, the rumors were far from the truth. Contrary to the rumors, Jia Tianlong was skinny and weak with exquisite facial features. He was quite young, in his early thirties. The rumors regarding how he ruthlessly killed people, however, were true. Jia Tianlong could not be judged by his appearance. After all, based on his facial features alone, no one would expect him to be able to control the other members of the gang.
Han Li gathered his thoughts as he tried to remember all that he knew about Jia Tianlong. Sucking in a cold breath, he curled up even tighter, trying to lower the sound of his breathing.
“…this time…. steal….list of names….kill….”
Another part of the conversation drifted over, clearer than before. The two mysterious figures were getting closer and closer to Han Li
Han Li did not even dare to breathe loudly. He knew that if he were to be discovered now, only death would await him. The two of them were likely spies from the Feral Wolf Gang, and they would definitely not let an outsider know of their secret.
“….Plan…must…not….quickly…”
Gradually, the voices of these two mysterious figures got even lower. It seemed like they had reached the crux of their discussion, which meant that they were about to reveal the most crucial information.
After a short moment, the voices got louder again, but Han Li could not hear them clearly; he could only hear the sound of the mountain wind blowing through. The outlines of these two mysterious figures passed by Han Li and gradually disappeared into the distance.
Han Li still did not dare to make any movements for a long period of time. Only after activating the Eternal Spring Arts and determining that there was no one near him in a thirty meter radius did he slowly reveal himself.
This time around, he had avoided certain death. Luckily for him, he managed to discover the movements of these two spies early on. If Han Li had met them face to face, he would surely have been killed to protect their secret. Even worse, based on his own martial skills, he did not even have a single shred of hope that he would survive such a confrontation.
Han Li stood motionlessly at the same location. Lost in his thoughts, his fingers lightly rubbed his chin while he gazed at the direction where the two spies had disappeared.
From the fragments of the secret conversation he heard, he could gauge that in the near future, the Feral Wolf Gang would undertake some action that would prove greatly detrimental to the Seven Mysteries Sect. There was a high probability that this action would have a close connection with the “list of names” that was previously mentioned.
What surprised him the most was that Han Li had already identified the identity of one of the figures despite of not being able to see their facial features. Even though the two mysterious figures had not spoken much, Han Li could match one of their low voices to the kitchen steward on the mountain of the Seven Mysteries Sect.
The steward, who had sold rabbits to Han Li back then, gave him a low impression. He had a mustache and an ignorant face, and he loved to take advantage of others. To think that he was actually a spy from the Feral Wolf Gang once again reminded Han Li that one could never be too cautious.
But reflecting back upon it, this was something to be expected. Only with a position such as a kitchen steward could a spy been able to enter and leave the mountains and pass along any news that he or she had obtained without arousing any suspicions.
Chapter 39: Abnormal Requirements
However, Han Li was quite unfamiliar with the voice of the other spy. He must have never met this person before. However, judging from the spy’s voice, his age must be relatively young, around 20 years old.
Unfortunately, in order to insure his own safety, Han Li didn’t dare to steal a glance. He feared that these two men practiced martial skills that could detect his spying gaze, enabling them to be aware of nearby outsiders. The potential gains were not worth the potential losses.
After this slightly dangerous event, the trip after became quite safe.
Han Li finally returned home after his regular supper time.
As always, Doctor Mo mysteriously paid him a visit and gave him a glance that lacked any interest. Aside from delivering a few concocted medicines, he normally left Han Li to do as he wished.
Han Li seemed as if he had not noticed the medicines that Doctor Mo had delivered. They were all created from rare medicinal ingredients that were gathered from his previous expedition away from the mountain. Han Li believed that Doctor Mo had abandoned his expectations of him and had some other malevolent scheme prepared.
For now, Han Li completely disregarded the precious medicine Doctor Mo had delivered. But in order to avoid raising suspicion from Doctor Mo, he pinched his nose and swallowed it down.
He threw away any suspicion that the medicines were laced with poison. Currently, any harm Doctor Mo inflicted onto Han Li would only be hurting himself.
With regards to seeing the Feral Wolf Gang spies, Han Li thought of the best method to deal with them on the way back to his residence.
Although he wasn’t deeply passionate towards the Seven Mysteries Sect, he was halfway to becoming an Inner Disciple. How could he possibly be impartial toward a harmful affair toward the Seven Mysteries Sect before his eyes and ignore it completely?
He had long thought of a best candidate to handle this matter——Li Feiyu, the famous Senior Disciple Li.
According to Han Li’s observation, perhaps the reason Li Feiyu consumed the Essence Extraction Pill was because he greatly valued being in the center of attention far greater than a common man and possessed no small amount of ambition. He had always dreamed of entering the upper divisions of the Seven Mysteries Sect, further becoming the focus of attention.
Han Li had previously suspected that Li Feiyu probably thought he was in the last stage of his life, and thus he became even more frantic and hungry for fame.
If Han Li allowed Li Feiyu to perform a large contribution to the Seven Mysteries Sect, Li Feiyu would certainly be excited to no end. This way, Han Li would be able repay Li Feiyu for stealing the sword manuals.
Thinking of the Blinking Sword Art, Han Li felt a wave of emotion.
Han Li did not tell any lies regarding the Blinking Sword Art to his good friend. This sword art truly did not suit Li Feiyu. However, Han Li did not reveal many of the details.
An essential rule of survival was that one should always keep a few secrets, regardless of who they were being kept from.
Although Li Feiyu and Han Li seemed to have a close relationship, it was hardly exceptional.
However, the contents written in these secret manuals were quite different from common martial teachings.
It seemed to Han Li that, rather than to say it was a sword art, it would be more appropriate to call it sword ingenuity. It was a complete integration of weather, timing, favorable positioning, and secretive assassinat
ion techniques against all kinds of factors and people; such a skill was rarely seen. It was pure killing skill; as soon as the sword was drawn, death approached.
These books described different environments, times of day, and the utilization of diligently practiced secretive sword skills. There were all kinds of sure-kill techniques that would cut down an enemy in a single strike.
The manuals taught those that learned these sword skills to make use of every tree and strand of grass in the terrain, as well as light rays of all intensities and angles, in order to hinder the opponent’s vision. During the split second the opponent was weakened, the user would take advantage of it and kill them in an instant.
This was a mysterious technique that required much attention and skill to execute. Without the slightest talent, it would be impossible to understand this sword art.
Therefore, those who learned this mysterious technique must excel in the five senses. Their vision and hearing must far exceed that of an ordinary person by many levels if there were to be the promise of even the slightest results.
Even if they had the requirements to achieve that stage, there would inevitably be a few disciples who would covet the Blinking Sword Art’s formidable power and choose to cultivate it immediately after reaching the minimum requirement.
However, mastering the sword art required an excessive amount of effort. In addition, it had even harsher requirements. Those who cultivated this mysterious technique could not possess pure inner strength. Otherwise, their body would suffer from complications when trying to execute the technique. This made cultivating the sword art quite difficult.
Even if someone with True Qi was lucky enough to succeed, if the True Qi in their body became too vigorous during actual combat, the sword maneuvers would unwittingly produce deformations. These deformities left large gaps for the opponent to take advantage of, thereby causing life-threatening calamities.
These requirements basically severed away the majority of those attempting to cultivate the technique. In Jiang Hu there was a common saying: “To practice the fist and neglect skill will end with one’s effort in futility.”
To not practice inner strength was an enormous taboo. Anyone who would abandon their cultivation of True Qi and spread their name with ineffable sword swordplay would truly be the laughingstock of Jiang Hu.
Therefore, only the remaining few still had the intention to continue cultivating the technique.
However, even if those individuals had plenty of talent and had no problem with abandoning True Qi, the final difficult barrier would thoroughly dispel their intentions of continuing down this path.
The final obstacle was the excessively complex nature of the Blinking Sword Art and the painstaking memorization of the meticulous conditions in which each of the sword maneuvers within the sword manuals could be applied.
Seeing such a large pile of thick secret manuals would intimidate any average person at first glance.
Each sword manual represented a sword maneuver, and each sword maneuver could be broken into hundreds of sword forms. Every sword form must be carefully selected for different environments and different times of day. To fully master the Blinking Sword Arts, one had to make complete use of different techniques for every situation.
The tremendous quantity of sword skills, let alone cultivation, could make one’s head ache. Not to mention that this further required the complete memorization and comprehension of every sword maneuver and sword form.
The previously mentioned abnormal requirements have obstructed an innumerable number of motivated disciples, making them endlessly curse in their heart at the Elder who had established this sword art.
With the passage of time, the Seven Mysteries Sect gradually lost interest in this sword technique. Believing it impossible for someone to train in this martial technique, many disciples thought that the Elder had baselessly and casually fabricated these martial teachings as he was facing death’s door. Otherwise, why would there be these excessive requirements? This was deliberately designed to be difficult for disciples that were unaware of how things stood. As a result, these secret manuals were put away on a shelf, no longer catching anyone’s interest.
Chapter 40: Origin of the Secret Technique
Those who complained did not know that the Elder who created this particular sword art had a very deep and profound level of skill. However, his meridians were injured during a battle against another cultivator of Jiang Hu. As such, he had been unable to cultivate True Qi.
In order to protect his status in the sect, the Elder had kept the matter a secret. From then on, he acted mysteriously, pretending that he had overwhelming strength to deceive all of the members in the sect.
Ever since then, however, it had been undeniable that he lacked the ability to protect himself. He had to rely on wit and experience from that moment on, protecting himself through deception
That era was when the Seven Mysteries Sect stood at the height of its power.
When this Elder realized that his power would never recover, he became depressed and organized many covert raids on the smaller sects. He acted behind his superiors’ back by using deceptive schemes that hid his movements.
During the raids, he forcibly seized many secret martial arts manuals, hoping to find a top-level skill that he could cultivate without True Qi.
After many years of research, the Elder did indeed discover many mysterious techniques that didn’t require True Qi. However, none of them suited him.
He was greatly depressed.
However, this Elder had talent and intelligence that far surpassed the norm. Suffering from depression and frustration, he decided to combine all the unfathomable martial techniques that he had discovered, thus creating his own set of top-tier skills.
Once the notion appeared in his mind, he was fully obsessed by it. He intended to create a special set of techniques unique to himself. This was something that all martial artists aspired to do. With his full attention and effort, he threw himself wholeheartedly into research. Eventually, fearing distractions, he entered into closed-door meditation and did not bother himself with matters of the sect..
Creating a set of skills was an extremely difficult thing to do. Not to mention the fact that the skill he intended to create had to be a top-tier skill that did not require True Qi to execute.
Creating this unprecedented martial skill was a process filled with many hardships that vastly surpassed his expectations. However, his determination and willpower was beyond that of a normal human. After half a lifetime’s worth of efforts that he expended over the course of ten years, he finally created his skill, the "Blinking Sword Art".
That Elder was extremely excited, spreading the joyous news to his sect members. However, he discovered that the Seven Mysteries Sect had regressed tremendously and was now a shadow of its former self. The Seven Mysteries Sect been attacked and surrounded by an alliance of various sects; it could be wiped out at any moment.
The Elder was furious and alarmed upon hearing the news. Using the skill he had just created, he unleashed its godly might, killing many top tier opponents and terrifying those that remained. Under the encirclement of the various sects, he managed to slaughter a bloody path out to safety, creating immense merit for the Seven Mysteries Sect.
Regretfully, although the sect managed to avert the disaster, the Elder was at the brink of death. He could only pass on his newly created skill and place it in the Seven Supreme Hall, leaving it behind for the other disciples before he passed away.
What was even more regretful was that, even after all these years, none of the following generations had managed to successfully cultivate this particular skill other than Han Li. As a result, this bright pearl was hidden under the dust, never to see the light of the sun.
Han Li had no idea of the history behind the Blinking Sword Art. Even if he knew, he would not be moved. To him, as long as this particular sword art could allow him to protect his own life when he clashed against Doctor
Mo, it was already sufficient. Why care about its history? Its creation process? Han Li had no interest in such mundane details. He was a practical man, Han Li would not be interested in spending his time and energy to understand things that had no benefits to him.
In his own residence, Han Li lit an oil lamp as he laid in front of the table. He repeatedly flipped through the pages of the manual underneath the candlelight.
He had no intentions of copying the manuals. What he was planned to do was to use his Eidetic Memory and memorise all the contents within the secret manuals. This way, he could always have the contents in his mind without arousing suspicions.
Regarding Doctor Mo, Han Li still maintained a high sense of alertness. He was not foolish enough to think that he would be safe because Doctor Mo had slackened his supervision. If Doctor Mo knew about all the secret manuals he had in his residence, wouldn’t all his plans come to naught?
Under the dusky yellow light from the lamp, crackling sounds rang out, reminding Han Li that he had been studying for a long time and that it was time for him to get some rest.
However, Han Li had no intention of stopping. He fully immersed himself in the contents of the secret manuals, absorbing all the information they contained into his mind.
As the light popped, a shadow appeared on the wall and began to sway back and forth in the flickering light. Han Li continued to sit there, immersed in the sword manuals, and didn’t budge an inch. His body contrasted sharply with this almost demonic shape; however, if one looked closely, he or she would see a sort of harmony between the two.
As time passed, the shadow behind Han Li became fuzzy as it slowly faded away into nothingness. Outside, dawn had broken.
Unknowingly, Han Li had spent an entire night studying.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 22