Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

Chapter 102 New Martial Arts

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Chen Ping left the Bai family residence and headed towards Cangwu Terrace.

Today marks the first formal lesson, and the location is not at Qin Ya's residence, but in a special martial arts hall.

The Military Academy is located on the east side of Cangwu Terrace, separated from the Martial Arts Academy by two rows of pavilions. It has blue bricks and gray tiles, and a wooden plaque with the words "Military Academy" hanging at the entrance. The door is half open, and a sliver of light shines from inside.

Chen Ping pushed open the door and went in.

The hall was spacious, with a few tables and chairs. A row of weapon racks stood against the wall, with all kinds of weapons neatly arranged. In the center was an open space, paved with bluestone, with several knife marks of varying depths along the edges, the year of which was unknown.

Qin Ya was the only one in the hall. He stood by the window, looking down and flipping through a booklet. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and waved to Chen Ping.

Chen Ping walked over.

Qin Ya closed the booklet and spoke, his voice calm: "You're more relaxed here. There aren't any mandatory classes, and you don't need to come every day. However, I'll check your progress at the end of each month. If you slack off, you'll be penalized with merit points. Do you understand?"

Chen Ping nodded and said, "I understand."

Qin Ya glanced at him and continued, "I won't go into your fist and foot techniques for now. I've also practiced the 'Vast Ocean Blade Technique,' and you've already reached its peak. I'm sure you already have your own ideas about how to proceed from here. However, in terms of cultivation level, I'm ahead of you. Watch me demonstrate once, and we can see if it aligns with your own thoughts."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand, and a large iron sword on the weapon rack in the hall rose into the air, crossed the open space, and landed steadily in Qin Ya's palm.

Chen Ping's eyes flickered slightly.

Qin Ya held the broadsword horizontally with one hand without saying a word. The next moment, the sword's momentum appeared. In an instant, Chen Ping felt his spirit falter, as if a vast ocean was pressing down on him. Then the feeling dissipated, and Qin Ya had already begun to unleash the Thirty-Six Forms of the Vast Ocean Sword Technique.

It is different from Chen Ping's Vast Ocean Saber Technique.

Chen Ping's swordsmanship is aggressive; every strike is delivered with full force, and every move aims to smash through the opponent's defenses—it's like waves crashing against the shore.

Qin Ya's swordsmanship became less aggressive and more rounded. He used only seven-tenths of his strength when he struck, transferring the remaining three-tenths to the next strike. With each strike, the power increased rather than decreased. He completed all thirty-six strikes in one go. For the last strike, Qin Ya did not even mobilize his qi and blood. He simply swung his sword, and the terrifying force stirred the surrounding air, causing the lights in the hall to flicker.

Chen Ping stared at the final cut, something stirring within him.

This is what a wave is like, not just crashing on the shore, but the kind that surges up from the deep sea, endless and ever higher with each wave.

However, his fighting style has now changed to using lightning speed to suddenly close the distance and aim for a fatal blow, which is not the same path as Qin Ya's.

Qin Ya sheathed his sword and said, "This is my understanding of the Vast Ocean Sword Technique."

He paused, put the broadsword back on the weapon rack, turned around, and said, "Your movement technique is superb, and you aim for a one-hit kill. With the power of your treasured weapon, this fighting style is excellent, but you only have one chance. If you miss, your movement technique will be useless."

He looked up at Chen Ping and said, "So there are two directions to choose from. One is the Blood Fiend Blade. This blade technique consumes all the blood and energy in an instant to unleash a devastating strike. It is a sure-kill technique. One strike and it's either you or him who dies. The other is to practice a body-strengthening martial art. If your movement technique is exposed, you can still use it to kill your enemy in close combat. There are many types of body-strengthening martial arts, but most of the superior ones require a lot of energy. If you don't want to delay your enlightenment, just choose the most common Vajra Body."

Chen Ping remained silent for a moment.

The difference between a one-hit kill and a protracted battle is that both approaches are valid.

However, since he has a control panel, he naturally wants to pursue both paths.

He said, "I will choose a martial art that involves physical training."

Qin Ya nodded and said, "Just let me know after you've obtained the martial arts techniques."

Chen Ping bowed and took his leave, then left the military academy and headed towards the armory.

The armory was a four-story pagoda-style building. Chen Ping went in through the main gate. On the left side of the entrance on the first floor, there was a long table with a steward sitting behind it. He was holding a pen and writing something in a book. Hearing footsteps, he looked up.

Chen Ping stepped forward and inquired about the merit points required for the Blood Fiend Blade. The steward rummaged through the bookshelf, took out a rubbing, and said, "Blood Fiend Blade, superior sword technique, one thousand merit points."

Chen Ping nodded, took out his waist token, the steward wrote down his name, and pushed the rubbing over.

Chen Ping took it, put it in his pocket, and walked towards the stairs.

The first floor is mostly filled with various books and materials, as well as a large amount of second-rate martial arts manuals. Most of the covers are badly worn. Many people browse through them, but few take them away.

Upon reaching the second floor, several rows of bookshelves were filled with introductory martial arts texts. Many students came to pick up books, standing in twos and threes in front of the bookshelves, looking down and flipping through them.

Going up to the third floor, there were fewer people, and the bookshelves were made of a different material—precious dark wood, polished to an extremely smooth finish, emitting a faint woody fragrance.

The books on the bookshelf were all locked, with rubbings placed next to each one. Most of the rubbings only contained partial content, for students to refer to and see if they needed it.

Chen Ping stopped on the third floor, glanced around the bookshelf, casually picked up the first rubbing, and opened it.

I flipped through three pages of "The Eight-Cut Sword," put it down, took two steps, then turned back, picked it up again, flipped through two more pages, and finally put it back.

I picked up "Blood Shadow Gun," read it for a while, then put it down, my hand still resting on the bookshelf, not leaving immediately.

He opened the book "Cloud-Piercing Armor-Breaking Palm," read the fifth page, stopped, stood there for a long time, and finally sighed and put it back.

Various weapons, martial arts, movement techniques, fist and foot techniques, internal energy cultivation methods—every single book made his heart itch. Putting each one back felt like cutting off a piece of his flesh. He walked back and forth on the third floor countless times. There were several rubbings that he repeatedly took off and put back, but in the end, he still put them back.

He had almost read through all the nearly one hundred superior martial arts manuals on the third floor. As the sun gradually set, dimming the light from the windows on the third floor, Chen Ping reluctantly put down the last rubbing. He did some mental calculations and realized that after taking the Blood Fiend Blade, he had 9,100 merit points left. He needed to save 5,000 to exchange for cultivation resources at the Myriad Treasures Hall, which meant that he only had 4,100 merit points to spend freely.

He suppressed the burning desire in his heart, looked at the three-tiered bookshelf filled with martial arts manuals, and sighed, "These 10,000 merit points are simply not enough."

He thought for a moment, then walked to one of the bookshelves, took down a martial arts manual, and read the words "Melting Bones and Refining Gold Body" on the cover.

The reason for choosing this book is that it is extremely particular about diet. There are two aspects to practicing this martial art: eating and training. There are specific methods for what to eat and how to eat. Combining eating and training allows you to temper your body from the inside out.

The "Melting Bones and Refining Gold Body" is divided into five layers: the first layer is skin and flesh like iron, the second layer is tendons and bones like iron, the third layer is internal organs like copper, the fourth layer is blood and flesh melted into gold, and the fifth layer is a golden body that is indestructible.

As Chen Ping flipped through the pages, he recalled how he had unexpectedly gained the ability to walk while practicing the Cloud Piercing Leap. If he were to cultivate the Bone-Melting Gold Body and turn his instinct for eating into a skill, what would that be?

He carried the body of the melted bone and molten gold towards the stairs.

The manager looked up, saw Chen Ping come down, and his lips twitched. He said, "Brother, don't you feel like you don't have enough merit points?"

Chen Ping placed the Bone-Melting Gold Body on the table and said, "That's indeed the case."

The manager was quite talkative. He leaned back in his chair and said, "That's normal. When I first came here, I spent most of the day on the third floor, wanting everything."

He turned around, took the complete rubbing of the "Melting Bones and Refining Gold Body" from the bookshelf behind him, pushed it over, and said, "One thousand merit points."

Chen Ping took out his waist tag, the steward wrote down his name, and handed over the rubbing.

Chen Ping took the two rubbings out of the armory. After taking a few steps, he couldn't help but open the rubbing of the Bone-Melting Gold Body and read it as he walked. When he reached the first level of the cultivation method, he stopped.

The first time you cultivate, you need a portion of purple deer blood, and it must be from a deer that has been slaughtered no more than ten days ago. After consuming it, you must circulate the gold-melting technique within it, which is the method of consumption, to absorb all the blood energy and essence within before you can begin cultivating.

Chen Ping closed the rubbing, looked around, and saw that it was already dark, but Wanbaotang should still be open. He thought for a moment, then turned and walked towards Wanbaotang.