Chapter 6: What is Martial

On a rainy night, under the moonlight, a youth holding a short sword, with blood slowly trickling down his still somewhat youthful face, created a visually striking scene. Yue Qianfeng's eyes were slightly open, while Li Guanyi still held that short sword in his hand, his eyes fixed on Yue Qianfeng.

The sound of the rain was the only noise.

Li Guanyi's breathing was steady.

He hadn't expected to find himself in this situation.

He had come in the middle of the night to seek out this beggar for detoxification and the bronze tripod, but he had never imagined that he would stumble upon the Night Rider Cavalry surrounding and attempting to kill Yue Qianfeng, and even less so on Yue Qianfeng turning the tables. He didn't anticipate that the Cloud Pattern Cavalry would reveal Yue Qianfeng's plot.

Although he had managed to stand on the same ground as this big man by killing that Cloud Pattern Cavalry,

Li Guanyi was still not completely sure about his own safety.

Nevertheless, his expression remained composed as he looked at the big man, the atmosphere so chillingly tense it almost solidified, and rain fell on him until he heard a hearty laugh, which broke the tension.

Yue Qianfeng looked at the youth before him as if he were looking at a tensely coiled young tiger. He reversed his grip and stabbed his narrow sword into the ground, then burst out laughing, his eyes full of admiration.

"Good lad, such ferocity, such decisiveness, such fierceness!"

"Indeed, an accomplice!"

"I underestimated you, did I!"

He praised several times, and with a sweep of his hand, the short sword in Li Guanyi's hand had already landed in Yue Qianfeng's hand. Li Guanyi had wrapped the blade near the handle, covering the four inscriptions on both sides, leaving only a cluster of green mist-like blade exposed.

It was this sword that allowed the unarmed youth to stab through the Night Rider Cavalry's famed armor, whose physical prowess not even a wild tiger could harm, but under his sword's edge, it was as if it were tofu.

Yue Qianfeng dropped his Inner Qi defense, and the pad of his thumb brushed over the blade.

No pain, just a tickling sensation, but as Yue Qianfeng lifted his thumb, a drop of crimson blood fell from his fingertip. He exclaimed in admiration, "Truly a top-notch sword, no wonder it could pierce through the Night Rider Cavalry's armor."

"It's nearly comparable to the Murong Family's ninety-seven legendary swords."

He tossed the short sword back into Li Guanyi's sword scabbard, laughing, "I won't ask where your sword comes from, that's your secret. Everyone has secrets, it's nothing unusual."

"But such a designed short sword is not meant for men to kill enemies with."

"Its blade is too thin, its edge too narrow; rather than a weapon for slaying enemies, it seems more like something a lady from a distinguished family would use to end her own life in a desperate situation to avoid disgrace. The person who gave you this sword must think of you as even more important than herself."

Li Guanyi's fingers gently stroked the blade, his fierce brows slightly softened.

In his eyes, the vivid, fire-like Azure Dragon began to gradually dissipate its scarlet haze.

Since Yue Qianfeng's killing intent had faded, he laughed loudly, "So, my accomplice brother, we should do what accomplices ought to do next." He pointed to the collapsed Cavalry on the ground. Rain spilled down, but the scent of blood was still strong. Li Guanyi exhaled a breath of turbid air and nodded.

Destroy the corpses.

Li Guanyi inverted his sword into his waistband, then dragged that Night Rider Cavalry who had discovered his identity, the dead man's eyes still open in a deathly stare, and piled the bodies together. The touch of the corpses' flesh and blood reminded Li Guanyi that he had been a fugitive on the run from the Night Rider Cavalry since ten years ago, and he still carried a deadly poison.

After all, he was just a child, poisoned, soon to die, not strong enough.

He barely dragged one body before he gasped for air.

It wasn't until that moment that his wrist suddenly started to ache, probably because he had overexerted himself while stabbing that Night Rider Cavalry.

The cold night rain washed over him, slowly leeching away his body heat. After a while, he felt dizzy.

Suddenly, the body lightened in his hand. Yue Qianfeng had nonchalantly picked it up and with a backhanded throw, piled all the bodies together, forming a gruesomely shocking sight. Li Guanyi felt an instinctive nausea and his right hand hung down, tearing at his thigh, forcing the sick feeling down.

Yue Qianfeng, observing Li Guanyi, casually said, "It's like this the first time you kill someone."

"It'll feel better if you throw up."

After a while, Li Guanyi replied, "No."

Yue Qianfeng asked, "Why hold it in?"

Thinking about what he had seen when he first came to this world, Li Guanyi said softly, "I have to get used to it. It's much better now compared to being killed and thrown here like me or someone I care about."

"So, I must learn the true Upper Martial Arts."

Yue Qianfeng grinned, growing more pleased with the boy. He nodded. Inititally planning to handle the corpses away from the boy, he now thought it unnecessary. Suddenly recalling something, he stepped forward and searched the corpses, quickly gathering a bunch of miscellaneous items.

Pointing at the corpses, he said, "Remember this, hidden pockets in the cuffs, pouches—search these places thoroughly."

"You never know what they might be useful for."

He tossed a bag to Li Guanyi, heavy with its contents, which were medicinal ointments and elixir pills. Yue Qianfeng casually said, "Bury these somewhere. After a few months, when the heat dies down, you can retrieve them and use them slowly."

Yue Qianfeng casually pulled a water bag from a dead Night Rider Cavalryman, wiped it carelessly, then leaned against a large pillar of the Mountain God Temple. Under the moonlight, he tilted his head back to drink. Beside him were stacked corpses, swords stuck in the ground, and fresh blood that trailed along the road and slowly seeped into the soil.

The moonlight cast on the land, chillingly reminiscent of a forest of white bones.

The big man sat cross-legged, drinking boldly. Seeing the boy sorting and identifying herbs nearby, he raised the water bag and tossed it over without any reservation, straightforwardly saying, "The name is Yue Qianfeng. Thirty days ago, I was still a fourth-ranked General Zhenwei of Chen Country. What's your name, boy?"

Li Guanyi tilted his neck back and took a big swig of the drink.

Under the moonlight like white bones, there were two drinkers.

After a moment's hesitation, he answered, "I'm Li Guanyi, just an apprentice at a pharmacy."

The big man laughed, "Good courage!"

"You want to learn martial arts from me, not only to protect yourself but also to alleviate the severe poison in your body?"

"Haha, not hard to guess. Although I'm no doctor, I do know some principles. Arsenic in small amounts is medicinal, but in larger amounts, it's poisonous; there's also Wind Oil Cream, severely toxic to insects but hardly harmful to humans because the human constitution is far stronger than that of insects."

"To you, it's a deadly poison; to me, it has no effect."

"Because my Inner Qi is robust, my body strong, far surpassing yours. But you, once you practice Martial Arts and Qi Refining, will naturally strengthen your body and blood. The poison that affects you now could simply be suppressed later, or even forced out by powerful Inner Qi."

"I made you a promise, a man's word is his bond. Come here."

Yue Qianfeng beckoned Li Guanyi closer, pulling out a wrist guard he had found on the body of a Night Rider Cavalry Captain, and handed it over. The wrist guard was quite heavy, almost like iron. Yue Qianfeng said with a smile, "Hold it properly."

Then he extended his hand and slapped the wrist guard.

The sound of the mechanism's activation was dull and the recoil nearly broke Li Guanyi's arm. The rain in the air was shattered by a residual image into mist, the image piercing through the Mountain God Temple's wooden pillar thick enough to be hugged and burrowing into the grand hall, followed by a muffled groan, and then a man dressed in black fell.

His abdomen, under the black garment and already pierced through the black soft armor, bled out, the dark clothing absorbing the blood into a deep red. He looked unbelievably at the two people in front of him.

As the rain mist slowly dissipated, Yue Qianfeng stood beside Li Guanyi, his palm resting on his shoulder, and said:

"Remember this, these Hidden Guards in the world are never just the apparent ones."

"In the shadows, there's a second set, waiting for the moment their target lets down their guard to strike, or to pass on information."

Li Guanyi, looking at the man in black who was now kneeling on the ground, remembered how Yue Qianfeng had just been sitting with his back towards him, and nothing had happened. He asked, "Why didn't he try to assassinate you?"

Yue Qianfeng simply said, "Because he's afraid."

"Because he knows he's not worthy to be my opponent."

"Li Guanyi, pick up the sword."

In the rain-soaked night, the sword just driven into the ground by Yue Qianfeng whistled. Li Guanyi's fingers loosened, touching the sword's handle, and Yue Qianfeng's broad palm grabbed Li Guanyi's hand, helping him to grip the handle tightly, then helped him draw the long combat sword.

In a moment of trance, the palm on Li Guanyi's shoulder sprouted scales and emitted intense blood Qi, clearly resembling the hand of an Azure Dragon. Yue Qianfeng's voice was serious as he taught, but carried a chilling murderous intent:

"Martial arts is the technique of killing, not something learned in schools."

"To learn the martial arts of killing, you must start with killing."

"He's been disabled by the Mechanical Crossbow just now, a fitting opponent. Come, accomplice, hold the sword."

"Let me teach you what Martial Arts is!"