Deities Abandoning Children (Part 7)
In a sincere tone, Jin Wangshi responded, “His fighting style was unorthodox – to say the least. I have never seen any discipline that matches its style, and I doubt there is a discipline that resembles his physique. It should be nothing more than an ordinary practitioner’s reflexes, except performed to a far faster and damaging level due to his odd physique.
“I have never seen or heard of a body like that. Every spot on his body seemed attackable, but he was able to recover instantaneously from injuries; even losing an arm was just minor damage to him. In my opinion, such an ability is no longer within the realm of martial arts but an inherited mutation or the effect of a drug.”
“It’s not a mutation,” asserted Wang Du, smiling. “He hasn’t mastered the full spectrum of control of tendons and bones, and still maintains a certain amount – a tiny amount – of normal movements for a human being. I surmise he was a normal human being, isn’t very old, and was used to modifying tendons and bones prior to his transformation. That said, it’s no simple matter to completely modify one’s bones and tendons. As for how he transformed his body, I know of at least three methods, though none of them are methods he would flaunt. My guess is that it was an accident – and not too long ago. At the very least, it hasn’t been long enough ago for him to have adapted to the body.”
Although Wang Du no longer had the stamina to fight a protracted fight against the intruder, his judgement could still be counted on.
Wang Du cast his gaze towards Jin Wangshi. “Judging from what you’ve said, you don’t have any clues, either, do you?”
Jin Wangshi confidently replied, “Not entirely. For him to dissect pregnant women alive and feed on unborn infants, there must be a reason besides him purely being perverse. I read in some old records that there is an ancient text in the Western Regions called ‘Distant Ancestors’ Records’’, which described many so-called demonic disciplines, and most of them mentioned blood. As far as my knowledge goes, there is no book that discusses the circulation of blood in martial arts in greater depth than this book. Following Divine Moon Cult’s destruction of the cult in possession of the book, the book was also erased from existence. When there were rumours of its resurgence, it was centuries later, but in the Central Plains. I heard some chapters of it fell into Sky Realm Palace’s possession some years ago and that some people have mastered some of it, one chapter being ‘Celestial Sphere Compass Technique’. This chapter may not be well-known in the martial world, but the previous dynasty’s Nightmare Monk was somehow able to get his hands on it, which inspired his creation of ‘Blooddeer Retrograde’.”
At this point in time, virtually everyone in the pugilistic world recognised that name, but they knew it as part of “Record of Extraordinary Skills”, which had become a mountain stack of yellow papers and was still growing, a collection of unorthodox sects’ treasured skills. In spite of their hatred and despise for the unorthodox sects, even the orthodox sects had to admit that the skills within were nothing to scoff at. If the orthodox sects wanted to come up with answers to the dangerous skills within, then the collection was a must-read text. As such, all members of the Seven Champion White Princes who trained in martial arts had to study it in depth. Hence, Su Xiao was the only person who was left out when he heard “Blooddeer Retrograde”.
“Is ‘Blooddeer Retrograde’ so impressive?” queried Su Xiao.
“Of course, but the most formidable version was not the one that Nightmare Monk practiced,” answered Jin Wangshi.
Wang Du added, “After it was introduced to the world, it was passed on to a prodigy of the orthodox sects. After he started practicing it, he ruined his bright future and became a walking disaster to the era. The self-proclaimed ‘Overlord of the World’ would have caused many more problems had Li Dynasty’s progenitor and Hero Shenzhou teamed up against him.”
If it took both the greatest swordsman and greatest martial artist to stop him, it said a lot about the threat of Blooddeer Retrograde.
Catching Jin Wangshi’s look of disapproval, Wang Du asked, “You disagree?”
Jin Wangshi smiled. “You are correct, but the cause of Overlord of the World going astray may not be due to him practicing the discipline.”
“Can you elaborate?”
Jin Wangshi wagged his hand. “There is no such thing as a discipline being inherently evil or just. Swords do not kill people. People kill people. No matter how twisted the training method may be, he had a choice to practice it or quit it. He could not quit it owing to his desire for world domination. Otherwise, why did he change his name after he mastered it if not to hide his intentions?”
Wang Du chuckled. “Men use martial arts; martial arts don’t use men. No wonder why you’re the only one in Gold and Silver Sect who’s been able to practice Vast Treasures. It sounds like you have answers.”
Jin Wangshi nodded and then told the others, “Overlord of the World didn’t have a successor. Considering Hero Shenzhou’s intellect, he would’ve erased the discipline from existence. Therefore, someone before Overlord of the World must’ve passed it on before it reached him. If the monster isn’t Nightmare Monk’s descendant, then he’s a servant of Demon Realm.”
It was universally known that Sky Realm Palace did not accept men into their ranks. Hence, the only way for a man to be connected to Sky Realm Palace was if the man was their servant.
Wang Du jovially applauded and said, “I should add one more point to compliment you for coming so far: he isn’t Nightmare Monk’s descendant. He did have a successor, but his successor perished at Valley of Villains decades ago.”
“Nightmare Monk’s successor was among the martyrs?”
The elites who went missing on both sides during the assault on Valley of Villains were posthumously referred to as martyrs.
“Yes. While he wasn’t famous, he was definitely among the five strongest in the squad.”
Jin Wangshi frowned.
Putting together their discussion’s contents, Bai Youhan came up with a conclusion. “In other words, the person we are searching for is affiliated with Demon Realm.”
Nobody could feel relaxed when they found out their opposition was the most elusive faction among the unorthodox factions. At the same time, it irked them to think that the unorthodox factions treated their alignment as a licence for ruthless violence.
Bai Lian was surprised the five showed no fear of Sky Realm Palace. Still, there was that one missing piece of information that eluded her, keeping her from understanding why the five of them could teach her what it meant to “be oneself”.
Bai Lian’s confused look made Langya ponder to herself prior to grabbing the former’s hands. Bai Lian tried to instinctively pull out, but she was unable to. Smiling, Langya whispered, “I have something to tell you once we’re outside.”
Though Bai Lian did not know what Langya wanted to tell her, she stopped resisting and bobbed her head.
Jin Wangshi suddenly conveyed to Wang Du, “You seem to know Valley of Villains like the back of your hand.”
Wang Du cracked a grin. “Would you believe me if I told you that my goal for the remainder of my days is to uncover their mysteries?”
Jin Wangshi gazed into Wang Du’s lifeless eyes, at the table of wine jugs, then put himself in Wang Du’s shoes. Wang Du’s path to glory was done. He a family member more capable of him to replace him. Frankly, he was no longer needed in the family. Solving a mystery of the pugilistic world was the only way he could kill time until he was ready to pass away.
“I do.”
“Wait. I have a question,” Su Xiao raised his hand to voice.
Wang Du turned to the constable who had said very little thus far. “Go ahead.”
“Um, what are Valley of Villains and Sky Realm Palace?”
Perhaps that was the most speechless moment of Wang Du’s life.
After everyone in the room had taken a turn to educate Su Xiao, he finally realised Sky Realm Palace was not a religion, and Valley of Villains was not the name of a market. Su Xiao had actually invested plenty of time into grasping the intricate network in the imperial palace after joining Liu Shan Men. Unfortunately, that took away his time from grasping the intricate network in the pugilistic world. Fortunately, he had an excellent memory.
“I have another question, Marquis,” expressed Su Xiao.
“Go ahead,” responded Wang Du, in an exhausted tone.
“Valley of Villains and Sky Realm Palace are among the four biggest unorthodox factions, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you said you want to use the remainder of your days to decipher Valley of Villains’ mysteries, right?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you not want to uncover Sky Realm Palace’s mysteries?”
Suddenly, there was a long silence.
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