Chapter 15: Exchanging Martial Arts

Third Stage of Heaven, its explosive power, impact resistance, endurance, and physical strength are all several times greater than Second Stage of Heaven.

If injured, the wound's self-healing speed is also faster.

At this realm, blood can autonomously boil to stimulate the body into a brief surge of greater strength.

The Wu Gong of Rolling Clouds is indeed far stronger than the Wu Gong of Evergreen.

A four-month-plus internal force card directly enabled Chen Mu to break through.

If he hadn't switched, and still practiced the Evergreen Wu Gong, even using all three internal force cards would not have broken through.

Now stepping into Third Stage of Heaven, Chen Mu's heart grew even more steady; he clenched his fist silently.

"Almost there!"

"One step closer to Primordial!"

"Sun Jindong, wait!"

The night before last, Chen Mu woke again with a roar.

That's only because there's no one else at home.

Remember, Sun Kui is already dead; if others learned Chen Mu was still shouting "Kill the Bandit Sun," they'd surely grow suspicious.

…

"Used up the remaining two internal force cards!"

Third Stage of Heaven is still not enough.

Chen Mu rested briefly, used one energy card to restore his vitality, then took out the remaining two internal force cards and used them one after another; two new energy masses formed within him, circulating slowly to push backward against the realm barrier.

But.

Breaking from Third Stage of Heaven to Fourth Stage of Heaven presents a small threshold.

In the Nine Stages of Heaven, a threshold appears every three stages.

To cross this threshold requires not only abundant internal force, but also daily and nightly refinement.

In short, it will take considerable time.

Chen Mu's combined three-month-plus internal force cultivation still couldn't push through.

"Huuu~"

He stopped practicing, opened his mouth, and expelled a stream of air; he calmed his breath.

Moments later, he picked up the skill card recording the San Yun Jue, and silently activated it.

The card turned into a stream of light and surged into his body.

Quickly, Chen Mu grasped the essence of the San Yun Jue and mastered this auxiliary Wu Gong.

Shhh-shhh~

As the San Yun Jue began to circulate slowly, Chen Mu's aura immediately dropped—from Third Stage of Heaven down to Second Stage of Heaven, then to First Stage of Heaven.

"Success!"

Compared to switching cultivation methods, concealing one's aura and hiding one's cultivation is far simpler.

"Huuu—"

He exhaled, calming his mind.

Chen Mu ended his practice, rose, lit a candle, walked to the desk by the window, sat down, took out several sheets of white paper, ground ink, and picked up a brush to write.

He wrote down the first three levels of the Rolling Clouds Wu Gong on the paper!

Just as he was nearly finished, dawn broke.

Miao Xiuxiu woke up, washed her face, and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Moments later, Huang Feiyang woke up yawning, came into the courtyard, and washed his face with cold water.

As he rose, he saw through the open window Chen Mu writing furiously, and curiously walked over.

"Hu Zi, what are you writing so early?"

Chen Mu didn't respond; his hand kept writing, finishing the final passages on the paper.

Only then did he put down the brush, pick up the several sheets of dried paper recording the First Level of the Rolling Clouds Wu Gong, stack them together, and hand them to Huang Feiyang.

"What's this?"

Huang Feiyang took them, puzzled, but as soon as he looked, his eyes widened instantly, his expression turning excited.

"This… this…"

"This is the First Level of the Rolling Clouds Wu Gong. The Second and Third Levels are here too." Chen Mu pointed to the other papers on the desk and said softly, "Brother, memorize them, then burn the papers. If you don't understand anything while practicing, ask me."

"I… you…"

Huang Feiyang's hands trembled, his eyes brimming with excitement.

"Huuu~—"

He took a deep breath, calming himself.

After a long pause, Huang Feiyang leaned close to Chen Mu, lowered his voice, and said anxiously, "Where did you get the Rolling Clouds Wu Gong?"

"Of course from Luo Yun Martial Hall."

Chen Mu glanced toward the kitchen, then lowered his voice too, "Last night when I came back, didn't I go out for a while? On my way back, I passed Luo Yun Martial Hall, smelled blood, got curious, climbed over the wall to look—and found everyone inside dead, including Luo Zhongyun!"

"What?"

Huang Feiyang gasped, but immediately clapped his hand over his own mouth, eyes bulging wide, filled with horror.

"Dead?"

He swallowed hard, released his hand, unable to hide his shock, whispering, "You mean Luo Yun Martial Hall was wiped out? The headmaster is dead too? The headmaster was Third Stage of Heaven!"

Luo Zhongyun was no ordinary man; he had considerable fame in Nan Yun Prefecture.

Especially in the Outer City—he was among the few known Third Stage of Heaven experts.

The gang leaders of the Great Blade Gang, the Blood Wolf Gang, the Green Snake Gang, and other regional gangs all had to greet Luo Zhongyun politely when they ran into him.

Such a master had actually died!?

"Only Postnatal Eightfold."

Chen Mu said calmly, "There are no fewer than a hundred people in the city alone who could kill Luo Zhongyun, let alone outside the city."

Killing Luo Zhongyun head-on could be done by a Postnatal Ninefold, or even a Postnatal Eightfold with Wu Gong at the pinnacle of perfection.

But piercing straight through Luo Zhongyun's chest and back with a single fist—that required the Innate Realm!

Only, Chen Mu didn't mention this point.

Telling Huang Feiyang that the Falling Cloud Martial Hall had been wiped out was one matter.

After all, the origin of the *Scroll Cloud Art* needed an explanation.

"But, but…"

Huang Feiyang opened his mouth to argue, yet after half a beat of trying, he still didn't know what to say.

Because what Chen Mu said was true—a Postnatal Eightfold was an unattainable martial arts master in his eyes, but if you widened your gaze to take in all of South Cloud Prefecture, the inner city alone had plenty of people at the same cultivation level.

In South Cloud Prefecture, only by stepping into the Innate Realm could one make everyone give a thumbs-up.

Luo Zhongyun, clearly, had not reached that step.

"Sigh~"

Thinking of this, Huang Feiyang exhaled, then grew excited again and said in a low, enthusiastic voice, "No matter what, I can now cultivate the Scroll Cloud Art! Huzi, thank you!!"

"Right, last night when you entered the martial hall, the *Scroll Cloud Art* you took—was it the original secret manual the hall master had hidden, the complete contents?"

"No." Chen Mu shook his head. "I took it from one of Luo Zhongyun's disciples. It only has the first six layers of the mental method. Besides the *Scroll Cloud Art*, there's also the *Scattered Cloud Art*. If you want to learn this Wu Gong, bro, I'll write it down for you in a bit."

"No need, no need."

Huang Feiyang hurriedly waved his hand. "I don't need the *Scattered Cloud Art* for now, just keep it yourself. As for the *Remnant Cloud Palm* I cultivate, now that the hall master and the others are all dead, I'll pass it on to you, Huzi, in a bit."

The *Scroll Cloud Art*, *Remnant Cloud Palm*, *Scattered Cloud Art*, plus a sword technique called *Sweeping Cloud Sword*, were the complete Wu Gong of the Falling Cloud Martial Hall—one system.

When Luo Zhongyun was alive, those who paid to learn martial arts naturally didn't dare to pass them on privately.

Now that they were all dead, Huang Feiyang could pass them on to whomever he wanted.

"…" Chen Mu had wanted to refuse, after all he already had the *Shattered Gold Palm*, and the grade of the *Shattered Gold Palm* was considerably higher than the *Remnant Cloud Palm*.

But thinking that many people practiced the *Remnant Cloud Palm*, so using it wouldn't risk leaking secrets, he nodded and said,

"Alright!"

As long as he picked up another cultivation card, learning the *Remnant Cloud Palm* would be just as easy!