Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 389 The Sum of Eighty-One Moves
Chu Tianshu was taken aback: "Old man Huang, the founder of Huangshan?!"

The old scholar stood to the side, showing no obvious shock, suggesting he had already heard the news beforehand.

"Yes, that's him, he's gone missing."

Xiao Liang said, "I didn't find many clues at the scene, and I suspect that his disciples colluded with outsiders to assassinate him."

The Huangshan Patriarch is known as "Sitting and watching the Qiantang River, flying smoke and divine spear".

It was not only because of his superb marksmanship, but also because of his exceptional hearing and eyesight.

Legend has it that when he sat on Lotus Peak in Huangshan, he could see the Qiantang River and hear the sound of the Qiantang tide in several tiers.

Rumors circulating in the community may be exaggerated.

However, the Huangshan Patriarch is still recognized by all enlightened people as the most difficult to attack.

Moreover, he is very family-oriented, and if he were to go out on his own, he would definitely leave some instructions for his disciples.

Therefore, the most likely reason for such a person's disappearance is that they were murdered through collusion between insiders and outsiders.

“I spent more than a month investigating and testing all the disciples of Huangshan.”

Xiao Liang said, "Heh, there really are more than a dozen of them, each with their own filthy intentions and treacherous schemes."

The old scholar held his wine cup and said regretfully, "I heard that the Huangshan Patriarch valued character highly when accepting disciples, and his school was upright and honest. He treated his disciples with the utmost kindness. I never expected that there would still be scoundrels among them."

"A teacher being good to his student doesn't necessarily mean that the student won't go astray."

Xiao Liang's expression was somewhat indifferent at this moment. "I've said it before: instead of carefully selecting, it's better to cast a wide net and set detailed rules. The proportion of scumbags might even be lower with the latter."

Chu Tianshu pressed on, "So, who exactly colluded with the traitor to harm the Huangshan Patriarch?"

Xiao Liang shook his head.

"Those dozen or so scoundrels deserve to die, but they deserve to die somewhere else. None of them wanted to harm Old Man Huang."

"I've completely lost my trail. Considering how long this has been delayed, I might as well come and meet you first."

Xiao Liang sighed, then rallied his spirits and smiled, "I think Old Man Huang might not die so easily. Let's talk about our business."

"I heard you want to exchange cultivation techniques?"

Chu Tianshu was still pondering who was behind the Huangshan Patriarch's affair and whether it would have any impact on him, when he heard this and gathered his thoughts.

"Indeed, I have quite a bit of experience in refining the power of the moon's turbidity."

Xiao Liang looked him over and nodded, saying, "I can see that. With such a strong foundation, you must be able to influence the power of heaven and earth more extensively. You must have a unique way of dealing with the Moon Turbidity."

"You want to exchange skills, but what you value is probably not my mastery of internal energy, but rather my reputation in combat techniques?"

When Xiao Liang met someone for the first time, he discussed such an important matter as exchanging martial arts skills, but he was not serious. As he talked, he started pouring wine into his bowl again.

Chu Tianshu was also relaxed. He took the bamboo chopsticks from the tube, picked up a piece of donkey meat, and put it in his mouth.

"Let's not beat around the bush. I've also practiced swordsmanship, and its power is quite good, but I've reached a bottleneck in terms of artistic conception. If I want to further improve, I would have to devote myself entirely to it and neglect my internal strength. Moreover, I don't know how long that would take, which would be a real loss."

"Why not exchange the secrets of refining the moon for some promising techniques, and exchange what we have?"

Xiao Liang took a sip of wine, swallowed it slowly, and then looked at the oil lamp beside him.

"Brother Chu, what kind of move do you consider to be a signature move, an ultimate move, a legendary move, one that can significantly enhance killing power with just one practice, and one move that can far surpass the normal level?"

Chu Tianshu began to seriously consider it.

"Special moves and ultimate moves may have their own standards, but I think a legendary move is definitely not an isolated move."

"It must be connected to a solid foundation and has a huge and complex set of accumulated knowledge."

"Only in this way can future generations also achieve enlightenment through similar practice and accumulation."

"To utilize famous moves and unleash one's full potential, while also ensuring that old moves maintain their strength and elegance, is what truly makes one a worthy successor."

The old scholar nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Xiao Liang smiled and pointed to the oil lamp.

"Indeed, a thousand-year-old dark room can be illuminated by a single lamp, but even this small flame requires a thin rope made from a lamp wick, carefully prepared lamp oil, and a stable lamp that is not afraid of being burned."

"A move that can unleash all the accumulated knowledge and experience in one strike is a signature move, an ultimate move."

Xiao Liang asked, "You killed Fa Wendao, so did you see his swordsmanship?"

Chu Tianshu nodded: "His swordsmanship is actually quite good."

Xiao Liang said, "Back then, Old Man Huang chased after him but failed. He mentioned it to me, and I became curious about the swordsmanship of the Five Great Temples. I went to ask him for advice."

"Shaolin's Burning Wood Saber is the most simple and unadorned. It has 81 moves, but if you take it out on its own, it can only be ranked last among the saber techniques of the five famous temples."

"However, Brother Chu, please witness the power of my Burning Wood Blade technique."

Xiao Liang extended his right index finger and pressed it against the ground beside him.

With this downward stroke, the first joint of his index finger curled up slightly, and the curve of the entire finger resembled a knife.

In an instant, Chu Tianshu vaguely sensed a rapidly changing aura, as fast as lightning, flashing and shifting within the meridians of Xiao Liang's right arm.

It travels from the shoulder to the fingertips.

A streak of crimson fire, about three feet long, suddenly cut into the gap between the stone bricks.

A scorch mark appeared in the gap between the stone bricks.

Chu Tianshu's gaze followed the ground and extended into the distance.

Pengcheng Tavern has three floors and one room.

They were in the main hall of the South Building.

Chu Tianshu's gaze had already turned to the large house to the north.

Outside the long windows of the large house to the north, the river reflects the moonlight of the night.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, a crimson light burst forth from the bottom of the river.

A three-foot-long red light burst forth from the water, soared into the sky, and then disappeared.

A large amount of coke fragments fell from the air and landed on the water.

Those are all water plants from the river.

The burning wood blade energy emitted by Xiao Liang's fingers pierced the ground and immediately changed direction, actually burrowing more than a hundred paces underground and diving into the riverbed.

The water plants grazed by the blade's energy were all reduced to dust, which was then carried out of the water and turned into charred fragments in the air.

Chu Tianshu looked at the ground, gently stomped his right foot, and listened to the echo from below.

Between the south building and the north building, there is a large courtyard, and the ground beneath the courtyard is just some soil.

However, the foundations of the south and north buildings are all made of tightly packed mountain rocks.

The blade of energy pierced through everything in the blink of an eye.

The destructive power of the shot was so great that it made one's eyelids twitch.

"The skill you used is no more profound than that of the Fawen Blade, but..."

After clicking his tongue, Chu Tianshu pondered, "The amount and quality of the power of heaven and earth that you attracted when you unleashed this strike are both higher than that of the Fawen Blade."

"This thing isn't a Burning Wood Blade at all, is it?!" Fa Wen Dao, based on demonic arts, had mastered the sword techniques of the five major temples to perfection.

He must know perfectly well which of these sword techniques, when combined with the realm of an enlightened person, can best gather the power of heaven and earth.

That day, the one that shattered Xiao Shexin's magic weapon in one fell swoop must have been the most powerful sword technique that Fawen Dao could find.

But that move wasn't as effective as Xiao Liang's simple stroke with his bare hands.

"Indeed, among the Burning Wood Blades, there is not a single blade that can attract and utilize the energy of heaven and earth to this extent."

Xiao Liang said seriously, "But this move of mine is the sum of all eighty-one moves of the Burning Wood Blade."

That sounds like utter nonsense.

In the martial arts world, it is generally believed that a single move encapsulates the essence of an entire set of martial arts techniques.

It usually refers to the improvements one makes to one's mind and body during the process of practicing the entire set of martial arts.

This move, by fully unleashing the results of the improvement, is considered the essence of the entire martial arts technique.

The claim that a single move encompasses dozens of moves is basically just rhetoric.

However, the results that could be achieved by using the Burning Wood Blade had already been demonstrated in the Fawen Blade.

Xiao Liang's words just now clearly did not have the common meaning in the martial arts world.

The old scholar smiled and was about to explain something.

Chu Tianshu, who was frowning and deep in thought, suddenly said, "Could you please relax your mind and stop protecting your right arm, and then use that move again?"

Those with profound mental states, even if they do not practice magic, can have their thoughts encompass their entire body, making them more thorough and agile than protective qi.

Chu Tianshu's statement was actually a bit presumptuous.

Xiao Liang, however, seemed to have thought of something and said with great interest, "Okay!"

He extended his right arm and focused his mind.

Outsiders usually cannot perceive the enhancement that a master's mental state brings to himself. But when he deliberately restrains himself, they feel that his hand seems more ordinary than other parts of his body.

The texture of the fingers and the hair on the back of the hands all seemed more... ordinary.

But this does not affect the flow of internal energy within the arm.

Chu Tianshu's eyes gleamed like a wheel as he unleashed his Insight Technique and activated the Nan Hua Original Classic.

Xiao Liang unleashed his power once more.

His arm appeared almost translucent to Chu Tianshu.

The white energy reached his shoulder and immediately transformed into the red attribute of the Burning Wood Blade Qi.

But it doesn't flow like air or cascade down like a long sword.

This red power instantly transformed into an extremely tiny human figure.

Each human silhouette is smaller than the diameter of a vein in the hand.

The red power poured out!

Eighty-one human silhouettes instantly formed a long line, flashing and changing within the meridians, wielding sword techniques.

Finally, when this power erupted from Xiao Liang's fingertips, the eighty-one silhouettes overlapped completely.

The blade's edge ripped through the ground!
"what……"

Chu Tianshu paused for a moment, exhaled, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

This move is actually the sum of eighty-one moves.

It is the sum of the literal meanings.

Eighty-one sword-wielding humanoid figures were all knocked away at once.

How the hell did that?
Xiao Liang's attacks were incredibly fast; he could basically unleash his blade with the slightest thought.

However, a single thought is merely a single movement.

How could one possibly use the same thought to simultaneously unleash eighty-one variations?

"You seem to have figured it out."

Xiao Liang's eyes held a hint of surprise. "Did you figure out how my technique works?"

Chu Tianshu's voice was slightly hoarse: "I can see a little bit, but I can't figure out how you did it at all."

"I haven't even said anything yet, and you can already see a bit of it. Then you might really be able to comprehend this wonderful method."

Xiao Liang poured Chu Tianshu a glass of wine and said, "In my opinion, this is what a so-called ultimate move or special move should be like."

"To condense a whole set of techniques that I had learned before into one move."

"With just the internal energy equivalent to a single move in the past, and with just a thought, the power of heaven and earth that it can stir up far surpasses any single move in the past."

Xiao Liang spoke eloquently.

"However, they must be the same set of skillful techniques to have the same underlying principles and be able to be combined."

"Therefore, the depth of your understanding and mastery of several advanced techniques in the past, and the amount of foundation you have accumulated, means that you can condense several ultimate techniques."

As he spoke, Xiao Liang grabbed a bundle from the bench next to him.

Inside the bundle were two gray-white stone slabs, like pages of a book, joined together.

"As for how to condense a whole set of techniques into one move, that depends on whether you can comprehend what's on this stone slab."

Xiao Liang patted the stone slab, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

“When I was wandering in Pengcheng, I got half a stone slab. Later, following my intuition, I found the other half in Denglaishan Village.”

"Before I attained enlightenment, I could only grasp a sliver of it at most. Even after I attained enlightenment, it took me seven years to truly understand it."

"Old Huang observed it for a long time, but couldn't see even a trace of it. Even after I tried my best to describe what I was thinking, he could only admit that he was not destined to have this stone slab."

He pushed the stone slab in front of Chu Tianshu.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

Chu Tianshu was greatly moved upon hearing this. He circulated his internal energy and ate two more pieces of donkey meat. By chewing slowly and carefully, he completely calmed his mind before putting down his chopsticks.

Seeing how composed he was, Xiao Liang felt even more hopeful.

In the process of practicing the secret method alone, Xiao Liang also encountered many obstacles and insights. When he encountered obstacles, there was no one to discuss them with, and when he gained insights, he was also distressed because there were no fellow practitioners to share them with.

If you tell others about it, they won't understand which part is the most exciting.

This kind of loneliness is the hardest to describe.

Some people, like the monk Qingsheng, might also have the opportunity to decipher the secrets of the stone slab.

But Xiao Liang was unwilling to let those kinds of people know about the existence of the stone slab.

Chu Tianshu got ready and extended his hand.

The stone slab, which was like the pages of a book, split open to reveal its surface, which contained hundreds of intricate patterns the size of fingernails, along with intersecting lines of varying lengths.

(End of this chapter)