Chapter 44: Guidance Art

“Bang!”

A loud explosion echoed through the living room.

Li Yi stood in a fighting stance and threw a punch.

The fist’s power condensed, making the sight heart-stopping.

“Sister Lin, did you understand? This is the fist art I learned—but I didn’t learn it fully. I only learned the stance; the rest I have to figure out on my own through trial and error.” Li Yi retracted his fist and spoke seriously.

After watching Li Yi’s punch, Lin Yue fell silent for a long while, as if analyzing its secrets in her mind—but soon she realized that this fist art, though seemingly simple, concealed profound mysteries of the human body, a culmination of a cultivation system, extremely valuable.

Once mastered, it could be instantly integrated and become one’s foundational strength.

“Li Yi, your fist art is basic—but precisely because it’s basic, it’s especially precious. If you keep training, you can use your stance as a foundation to evolve your own unique martial art. Now I understand why Yang Yi long refused to let you go.”

Lin Yue’s expression turned grave: “You probably don’t know yet—Yang Yi once acquired a Guidance Art, capable of directing the body’s energy. You must understand: cultivators continuously absorb cosmic energy to evolve, but this energy doesn’t vanish randomly after absorption—it’s stored within cells.”

“The human body has sixty trillion cells; cultivators have even more—at least eighty trillion, due to higher bone and muscle density. The Guidance Art draws out the cosmic energy contained within these eighty trillion cells and concentrates it into one point.”

“If he masters your fist art and combines it with that Guidance Art, Yang Yi’s talent might allow him to fuse them into a terrifyingly powerful high martial art.”

Li Yi was immediately startled: “Guidance Art? Such a thing exists?”

But then he remembered: Yang Yi’s right arm had once glowed brilliantly with concentrated bodily energy, forming an invisible, razor-sharp sword.

That must have been an application of the Guidance Art.

Yet he quickly calmed down and smirked: “Sister Lin, your concern isn’t baseless—but Yang Yi can’t learn my fist art.”

“Oh? Why? If you demonstrated your movements in his underground training room, his chances of learning it would be high. I’ve been there—his basement is filled with hidden high-definition cameras. If he recorded your punches and fed them into a supercomputer for analysis, he’d surely replicate your fist art. Even though I now despise him, I must admit his talent.”

Lin Yue shook her head slightly, feeling Li Yi had underestimated Yang Yi’s danger.

Li Yi said: “No, Sister Lin, you’re mistaken. I anticipated all the methods you mentioned—but what Yang Yi didn’t realize is that the stance I taught him was fake. If he follows my method, even if he masters it, it’ll be dangerous: wrong posture, incorrect force application. Over time, his body will accumulate hidden injuries. One punch might dislocate his arm or even snap his spine.”

“The stronger the fist power, the greater the bodily damage. The more he trains, the worse his condition becomes. If he truly combines the Guidance Art with this fist art, he’s finished—his body might explode with a single punch.”

As he spoke, a faint smile curled at his lips.

“What? You taught him fake fist art?” Lin Yue gasped, then burst into laughter: “Ha! I’m dying! Yang Yi, clever all his life, got tricked by you! How did you fool him? Tell me!”

“It’s simple. A stance is just the posture for throwing a punch—something fundamental, unchangeable. But once mastered and fully understood, it becomes something else entirely.”

Li Yi finished speaking, sat down on the sofa, and slumped back lazily.

“Watch closely.”

Then he raised his hand and threw a punch.

It looked casual, yet the same fist power erupted, accompanied by a bang.

But this bang lacked the previous cohesion—it sounded hollow.

“This is incorrect force application—it damages the body. Sister Lin, look at my back.” Li Yi stood up, feeling the strain on his back, and pointed.

There, his wound and bandages had been pulled slightly apart by the force.

“I see now. I understand. Yang Yi never saw your real punch, so even if you demonstrated the wrong technique, he’d believe it was real. But if he trains it for real, he’ll only grow slower and more injured—until disaster strikes.” Lin Yue’s eyes lit up as she grasped the truth.

“If he really comes to you to negotiate buying your fist art, I might, out of gratitude for my past work with him, even sell it to him. Drag me to his basement, try to force me? I won’t tolerate that. One inch of respect, I give a foot back. If he plays games, don’t blame me for playing dirty.”

Li Yi sneered, then turned to Lin Yue: “But if you want to learn, I’ll teach you—no secrets. Just promise me you won’t teach it to anyone else.”

Lin Yue had been his guide in cultivation, and he owed her a debt.

“Teach me this fist art?” Lin Yue’s eyes widened, her heart pounding.

Damn it.

What was this damn excitement?

Lin Yue forced herself to calm down, her eyes flickered, then she smiled: “If I truly learned it, I’d never be able to repay you.”

“No problem. You taught me meditation; I teach you fist art. Mutual progress—it’s a good thing. Don’t talk about repayment.” Li Yi spoke seriously.

Lin Yue pondered, then said: “Even so, if I take such a huge advantage, I’d feel guilty. No merit, no reward. How about this: I’ll handle your deal with Yang Yi. I’ll demand the Guidance Art from him for you. If I succeed, you teach me the fist art. Deal?”

“Will that work? I just tricked him.” Li Yi doubted.

Lin Yue rolled her eyes: “He doesn’t know you taught him fake art. His Guidance Art isn’t even his own—he learned it too. Your fist art is far superior. Even if you only taught him a half-baked version, it’s enough to benefit him immensely. Seeing you get cheated like this, I can’t swallow this insult.”

“If you succeed, you gain: a fake fist art traded for a Guidance Art. Even if you fail, it proves your fist art isn’t flawed—he won’t suspect a thing.”

Li Yi nodded: “Fine, I’ll follow your lead, Sister Lin. If it works, we’ll learn both the fist art and the Guidance Art together—see if we can fuse them into something even stronger.”

“You’re so generous—you treat arts like nothing. Do you know how expensive arts are on the market?” Lin Yue grinned, winking.

Li Yi shrugged, indifferent.

His stinginess was selective: to those who truly helped him, he was generous; to those with ulterior motives, he refused to be a fool.

“Enough about that for now. We’ll talk again when I get the Guidance Art. I came here for another reason: I want to understand why your cultivation speed is so fast.” Lin Yue said: “Your entry into the Spirit Medium realm wasn’t just due to stumbling into Ghost Street and gaining a stroke of luck. I’ve said before—I suspect your cultivation location is unusual.”

“The location of your home might have highly active cosmic energy, making it ideal for cultivation. I want to investigate and see if my suspicion is correct.”

“If it is, I’ll immediately buy the apartment below or next door—we’ll be neighbors and cultivate together.”

With this thought, Lin Yue sat down on the spot and closed her eyes, attempting meditation.

“By the way, Sister Lin, since entering the Spirit Medium realm, I’ve noticed my body’s evolution has slowed significantly—is that normal?” Li Yi suddenly remembered and asked a cultivation question.

“Of course it’s normal. You’re now in the Spirit Medium realm—every day, even doing nothing, you consume cosmic energy. The stronger you become, the more you consume daily. It’s like a baby needs milk, a child needs food—the more powerful the being, the greater the consumption. Do you think the law of conservation of energy is fake?”

Lin Yue opened her eyes and gave him a look: “When your daily absorption of cosmic energy can’t keep up with consumption, that’s your limit. That’s why higher cultivation efficiency leads to greater future achievements. Honestly, if your efficiency is below fifty percent, I don’t recommend prolonged cultivation—just reach Spirit Medium and stop climbing.”

“Of course, there are ways to change this: switch your cultivation environment to one rich in pure cosmic energy—like a cultivation chamber, hiring a guide, or entering a relic’s energy field. The Golden Academy has a relic that increases cosmic energy concentration in a certain area—our country’s top experts have all gone there.”

“Shallow water can’t raise true dragons—this truth has never changed. Our world’s cosmic energy is abundant, but it’s polluted. If we could someday find and eliminate the source of pollution, that would be ideal. Imagine billions of cultivators training together—terrifying.”

“Alright, Li Yi, I’m going to meditate. If you have more cultivation questions, ask me later. Ever since I entered this room, I’ve felt something off—but I can’t pinpoint it. Once I meditate, my intuition strengthens—I’ll sense things around me even without seeing. Maybe then I’ll find what’s wrong.”

With that, Lin Yue closed her eyes again.

This time, Li Yi didn’t disturb her. Instead, he felt uneasy.

Because Li Yi believed his home had no problem.

The problem was the incomplete relic.

Once Lin Yue meditated, she’d detect it immediately.

“Forget it—let fate take its course. Rather than worrying about Lin Yue, I should worry about whether Lao Ya might show up one day. After all, Lao Ya’s people are the real potential enemies.” Li Yi thought to himself, and stopped dwelling on it.