Chapter 1 Back to the Present

In the Sakura Garden, blossoms danced through the air.

Cao Qin channeled his Haoran True Energy, intent on slaying the formidable foe.

And in Eunuch Cao's mind, this "formidable foe" was undoubtedly Feng Bujue.

Although Cao Qin was already close to invincible within this martial arts world... or rather, on this planet, he had always harbored a lingering apprehension towards one person—the "Feng Proprietor" of the "Broken Sword Tea House."

This man, and the sect behind him… contained far too many mysteries.

For ordinary people, ignorance often meant fearlessness.

But for someone like Cao Qin, the unknown… was absolute terror.

He could accept that there were people in this world stronger than him, as long as he knew exactly how strong they were…

But he could not tolerate a man of unknown origins, unknown martial arts skills, and even more unknown thoughts, wandering around.

"Oh, right, you seem very interested in my 'Twelve Divine Skills'," Cao Qin suddenly said before making his move, "I might as well... tell you about them while I'm in the process of killing you."

"Oh…" When it came to verbal sparring, Feng Bujue held a distinct advantage, "...you're going to tell me about them while you're being killed by me, right? Sure thing~"

He changed Cao Qin's words with a perfectly natural tone, mocking him in return…

"Heh…" Eunuch Cao chuckled softly and continued, "First, there's the 'Life Star Profound Skill' and the 'Breathless Art'. I should have already explained the principles behind these two martial arts to you…"

As he spoke, he pushed out a ball of internal energy, already kneaded into a water-like sphere between his palms.

It looked like… he was just pushing it out gently with one hand, but the speed of the internal energy ball was faster than a cannonball. With a "whoosh—" sound, it had already flown in front of Jue-Ge.

Fortunately, Feng Bujue's reaction and movement speed were sufficient to deal with this ranged attack. He activated [Spiritual Sense Gathering Technique - Modified] in time to evade it.

However… the ball of internal energy that flew past wouldn't just disappear. After flying for over a hundred meters at high speed… it finally collided with a cherry tree.

Cao Qin's unleashed, invisible internal energy had actually blasted a seven or eight-meter-tall tree into something like xie fen (finely ground powder), reduced to ashes…

"I'll be damned... Spirit Gun (a technique from *Yu Yu Hakusho*)," Feng Bujue didn't say it out loud, but he couldn't help but think to himself.

"I have cultivated this one's Life Star Profound Skill for over fifty years, and the Breathless Art has also long reached the ninth level. In terms of internal energy…" Cao Qin shrugged slightly, "...it has already reached a state of inexhaustibility."

"What's the point of having inexhaustible internal energy… you still have to gather your strength when you launch an attack," Feng Bujue, despite not understanding martial arts, still sharply pointed out one of his opponent's weaknesses, "Like that attack just now… didn't you still have to take a moment to prepare before you could launch it?"

"Heh… you're right." Cao Qin smiled again, "To possess peerless internal energy, but without exquisite external skills to release it, is a waste of heavenly gifts…"

As the words fell, a surge of true energy condensed on Cao Qin's finger.

With a twist, a turn, and a flick of his orchid finger… a burst of inner strength was unleashed in response!

This energy was as gentle and soothing as a breeze when it left his hand, but in an instant… it accelerated violently, transforming into the power of thunder.

"Crap!" This time, Feng Bujue couldn't dodge it. Although he reacted with a very twisted, borderline movement, the outside of his left arm was still grazed by that finger energy, taking away a large chunk of flesh.

"This skill is called 'Woman's Heart'," Cao Qin's somewhat effeminate voice followed, "I don't know who created this martial art, nor do I know if the name was given by its creator; but after practicing it, I feel that… the name is very fitting."

As he spoke, he moved his hands continuously, releasing several finger energies at Jue-Ge in quick succession with two fingers at once.

"'Woman's Heart' has an extremely complex method of circulating energy. Before the true energy is released, it undergoes several changes within the meridians," Cao Qin continued, not stopping his hands or his mouth, "After it is released, it is also formless and invisible, changing three times in an instant… making it difficult to fathom."

"The attack interval is acceptable... but the speed is a bit fast…" On the other side, Feng Bujue was also dodging, thinking of a strategy, while listening to the other party's description.

With the speed of the first strike as a reference, the error in Zero Hour Calculations was reduced, so Feng Bujue was barely able to evade the finger energies that Cao Qin released afterward. However… it was still very difficult to dodge.

"Oh? You've already caught up that quickly." After releasing more than twenty fingers in a row, Cao Qin continued, "Hmph... it wouldn't be bad to just exhaust you to death like this. But... such an approach would be a bit boring… after all, I still have nine other martial arts skills to display."

After finishing that sentence, Cao Qin stopped his actions. After pausing for two seconds, he added: "'Woman's Heart' has amazing power, and requires very little internal energy to unleash; even a rising star in the martial world can use this skill to defeat opponents much stronger than them if they manage to master it." At this point, he changed the subject, "Unfortunately… as I said, this skill is too complicated, and the requirements for aptitude are too high… apart from me, only Lin Yan, such a peerless genius, was able to master it."

While he was saying this, Feng Bujue had already taken a hemostatic bandage from his bag (because he had recently lost several items, Jue-Ge's bag had more space, so he also brought some store-bought goods to remove negative statuses), and quickly stopped the bleeding on his arm.

"However… the next skill is quite the opposite…" Cao Qin's words continued, "Even someone with a very dull aptitude can easily learn it."

As he spoke, his figure suddenly shot out like an arrow, lightly folding in the air, and flashing suddenly, he had already appeared to the side of Feng Bujue.

"Horizontal-Vertical Fist." Cao Qin uttered the name of the fourth ultimate skill, and punched towards Feng Bujue's torso.

He didn't aim for the head because he thought the other party might avoid it, but if he aimed for the torso… it would be difficult to avoid.

However, Feng Bujue still avoided it.

It was as if he had already been preparing to dodge this strike, and his dodging movement was also nearly perfect…

He leaned back and lunged backward, soaring through the air, and lightly flew out several zhang (a unit of length), before landing steadily with a backflip.

"Hey, hey… Horizontal-Vertical Fist is Horizontal-Vertical Fist…" Feng Bujue said with narrowed eyes after stabilizing his body, "Your qinggong (light body skill) isn't part of the fist technique, is it?"

"Heh… good eye." Cao Qin laughed, "The body-closing technique I just used is the Vermillion Bird Soar from the Four Symbols Divine Skill."

"Oh... that one." Feng Bujue asked tentatively, "Is it the same school of martial arts as the Black Tortoise Force?"

"That is correct." Cao Qin responded, "The Four Symbols Divine Skill has four techniques: Azure Dragon's Roar, White Tiger's Defiance, Vermillion Bird's Soar, and Black Tortoise Force; it can be said to have offense, redirection, movement, and defense… all four aspects." He paused, "Because I possess the Heavenly Severance Steps, known as the supreme qinggong, using the Vermillion Bird Soar is even more effective."

"Hmm…" Feng Bujue didn't mind gathering more information through language. Hearing this, he added, "Alright… let's talk about that Horizontal-Vertical Fist just now."