Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty-Nine: Extraordinary Conditions

The voice of another “traitor” sounded unfamiliar to Han Li—he had never seen this person before, but from the tone, he judged the individual to be young, around twenty-some years old.

Unfortunately, for safety’s sake, Han Li dared not sneak even a single glance, fearing these two might possess refined enough cultivation to sense his gaze and thus detect an outsider nearby—that would be counterproductive.

After this incident, the remainder of the journey was extremely peaceful.

Han Li finally returned to his quarters long after dinner time.

As usual, Master Mo paid no attention to Han Li’s mysterious return, not even bothering to glance his way; apart from delivering pre-prepared “medicines,” he left all of Han Li’s actions and behavior entirely unmonitored.

Had Han Li not noticed that the “medicine” Master Mo delivered was always made from rare herbs collected during his last descent down the mountain, he might have thought the man had abandoned all hope for him and was preparing some sinister plot instead.

Now, Han Li completely dismissed Master Mo’s so-called precious “medicines,” but to avoid arousing suspicion, he still pinched his nose and swallowed them down.

He wasn’t afraid the “medicine” contained poison—should the man harm him now, he’d only be harming himself in equal measure.

On his way back, Han Li had already thought of a good way to deal with the Wild Wolf Gang “traitor” he’d encountered on the road.

Although he felt no deep attachment to the Seven Mysteries Sect, he was still at least a half-internal disciple; he couldn’t possibly ignore threats to the sect happening right under his nose.

Besides, he had already found the perfect person to handle this matter—Li Feiyu, Senior Brother Li.

From Han Li’s observations, perhaps due to consuming the “Bone-Draining Pill,” Li Feiyu’s desire for fame and fortune was far stronger than average, brimming with ambition—he had long dreamed of entering the upper echelons of the Seven Mysteries Sect and becoming a more prominent figure.

Han Li had guessed that the man likely wished, in his final days, to become even more arrogant and more dazzling.

Now, by personally delivering such a great achievement to him, Han Li was certain it would make him overjoyed—this would also repay the great debt of the Sword Manual he had taken.

Thinking of the “Blinking Sword Manual,” Han Li’s heart surged with excitement.

He had not lied to his friend about the “Blinking Sword Manual”—it truly was unsuitable for the man to cultivate, but Han Li had withheld many key details.

For him, keeping small secrets from anyone was an unbreakable rule of survival.

Even when someone appeared utterly close to him, this rule held no exception.

Yet the techniques recorded in these manuals were truly unlike ordinary martial arts.

In Han Li’s view, it was less a sword art than a sword technique—a comprehensive assassination method integrating timing, terrain, and human factors, an exceedingly rare, pure killing art where the blade struck and death followed instantly.

These texts described techniques for delivering a single fatal strike against an enemy under varying environments and at different times, using meticulously trained, elusive sword skills.

It taught the practitioner to exploit every blade of grass, every tree, and every variation in light and shadow to create optical illusions, seize the opponent’s weakness in an instant, perceive their openings, and kill them in a flash.

This was an extremely technique-dependent secret art; without even a shred of innate talent, one could never comprehend or master this sword method.

Thus, those who trained in this secret technique must possess extraordinary senses—vision and hearing far surpassing those of ordinary people—to have any hope of success.

If only these conditions were required, it might have been tolerable—some disciples would still be tempted by its power and choose to study it.

But it went further: it imposed an even harsher condition—that the cultivator must possess no refined internal energy, otherwise the technique would clash with the methods of channeling and releasing power, making cultivation excruciatingly difficult.

Even if one somehow succeeded in passing this hurdle, in actual combat the excessive internal qi within the body would unconsciously distort the sword movements, leaving the opponent ample openings and inviting fatal consequences.

Such a condition effectively eliminated the cultivation attempts of nearly everyone, for as the saying goes in the martial world: “Train fists without training qi, and in the end, you gain nothing.”

For them, neglecting internal qi cultivation was a grave taboo; to abandon one’s own qi training for the sake of this obscure, nameless sword art would make one a laughingstock of the martial world.

Thus, only a handful of individuals remained who still considered continuing their cultivation.

But even these individuals, no matter how gifted or free of internal qi issues, still faced one final obstacle that completely extinguished any desire to persist.

That obstacle was the sheer size and complexity of the techniques, and the excessive, intricate conditions required for their application.

Just looking at the pile of thick manuals in the bundle was enough to intimidate the average person.

Essentially, each manual represented one sword technique, and each technique was broken down into hundreds of sub-movements, each of which demanded different applications depending on environment and timing.

With such a vast number of sword techniques, it was daunting not just to cultivate them, but even to read them—let alone memorize them all and personally comprehend and practice them.

These twisted cultivation conditions had deterred countless disciples who wished to learn this sword art, causing them to silently curse the Elder who had created this ultimate technique.

As time passed, the entire Seven Mysteries Sect gradually lost interest in this sword art, believing no one could ever master it; they assumed the Elder had invented this absurd technique on his deathbed, otherwise how could such ridiculous cultivation conditions exist? Clearly, it was meant to torment unsuspecting disciples—so these manuals were locked away on high shelves, never to be touched again.

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