Chapter 205: Gladiolus

In the limited memories of Lu Hongdou's childhood, the most profound scene was an exile.

Yellow sand filled the sky, the scorching sun burned like fire, and the path ahead was lost in a wandering exile.

Her hometown, a border town in the state of Donghua, was destroyed when she was five years old during a disaster caused by a rampaging beast attack.

Regarding the disaster itself, she actually had no particularly deep impression of it; she only remembered being woken from sleep by her parents one night, and then the three of them set out on a journey of exile. And even more unfortunately, she became separated from her parents while fleeing with them, losing her way alone in the wasteland.

A five-year-old child walking alone in the wasteland could be said to be no different from being dead; it was merely a matter of dying sooner or later, but Lu Hongdou happened to be lucky in this matter, because she encountered an old man who happened to be traveling through the wasteland.

Later, Lu Hongdou learned that this old man was no ordinary person, because he mastered a very unique skill which he called martial arts.

Because he practiced martial arts, the old man had the ability to traverse the wasteland alone; because he practiced martial arts, the old man was able to avoid the dangers within the wasteland. And whenever the old man spoke of martial arts, a brilliant divine light always shone within his deeply aged face.

The old man took Lu Hongdou in and brought her to another city, but they did not live in the city center; instead, they settled in a mountain on the outskirts of the city.

In the years following that, Lu Hongdou called the old man "Master" and practiced martial arts with him in the mountains.

Practicing martial arts was bitter, far beyond ordinary bitterness.

But perhaps because the experience of wandering the wasteland in her youth made her strong, or perhaps because leaving her parents' company early made her mature, Lu Hongdou persisted and diligently cultivated martial arts.

During the hottest days of summer, she stood in posture under the scorching sun; during the coldest days of winter, she danced with her sword in the biting wind. She practiced with single-minded focus and perseverance, and thus, her efforts were rewarded.

Several years later, Lu Hongdou displayed extraordinary martial arts talent; at merely fourteen years old, she had already completed the skills the old man possessed and became a martial artist of exceptional gift.

And just as she was full of ambition, wanting to ask the old man where the next step of the martial way lay, the old man's next words poured a bucket of cold water on her.

— "At your current state, you have basically reached the end."

"The end? What do you mean?" Lu Hongdou completely did not understand what the old man was saying.

"It means that practicing martial arts to your level is basically the end; going further would merely be learning more techniques, accumulating more combat experience, or forging a stronger body... You can continue to grow stronger, but you cannot achieve a qualitative breakthrough anymore; it is impossible to reach a new realm."

While saying these words, the old man was very calm: "Martial arts have a limit, and this limit is the limit of us as mortals. No matter how one cultivates, one ultimately cannot defeat those rampaging beasts. Even I, when encountering a rampaging beast, can only suppress my aura and avoid them."

"Why?" Lu Hongdou still did not understand.

"There is no why. Just like the cycle of the four seasons and the alternation of day and night, this is the law of the world; it has been this way from the beginning."

The old man's answer was very realistic, very cold, and very powerless.

But Lu Hongdou still did not believe this.

Thus, at the age of fourteen, she bid farewell to the old man who had raised her and chose to descend the mountain alone to seek the future path of martial arts in this world herself.

This was also the first time since she was five years old that Lu Hongdou stepped back into a human city.

At the very beginning, she was naturally clumsy and completely unaccustomed to city life. Although the old man gave her a small sum of money before she left, the old man himself had not deliberately saved up any wealth, and this money was merely enough to fill her stomach.

On the first step of her pursuit of the martial way, Lu Hongdou was defeated by the struggle for survival.

She lived with beggars in damp, dark alleys, barely surviving each day by begging and performing arts. Because she always could not bring herself to lower her dignity and was unwilling to mix with the thugs on the streets and alleys to do things like stealing chickens or dogs, she was constantly excluded, lacking even a decent place to sleep outdoors, and fell asleep every day beside garbage piles.

Life was very difficult, but Lu Hongdou did not feel her choice was wrong, because her master had always taught her since childhood that those who practice martial arts must uphold righteousness, and one of the cores of righteousness is to protect the weak and not bully the weak.

Fortunately, Lu Hongdou had strong adaptability; she quickly found her own rhythm in this difficult life. Relying on her martial skills, she occasionally caught thieves, helped some shops guard their premises, and intimidated that group of hooligans. She gradually began to earn money and integrate into city life.

After that, she used this to begin her inquiry into the subsequent path of the martial way. On one hand, she persisted in practicing martial arts herself to see if the so-called "limit" truly existed; on the other hand, she asked around in the streets and alleys to try to find other fellow practitioners of martial arts.

And she did not find any fellow practitioners; instead, she found some old friends.

— Rampaging beasts appeared.

This was the first time since she was five years old that Lu Hongdou encountered a rampaging beast in reality, to the extent that she did not immediately realize what kind of monster stood before her. Only when the surrounding commoners began screaming and fleeing, and the usually bustling and lively streets fell into panic, did she understand that the thing before her was a rampaging beast, also the "rampaging beast" her master spoke of.

Can martial arts defeat rampaging beasts? The master's answer to this question had always been "no."

But Lu Hongdou did not believe this. Rather, she always remembered that the main culprit of her displacement in her youth was precisely the rampaging beast, so she was unwilling to run away in front of her enemy.

Thus, she launched a charge alone against the rampaging beast before her, challenging the beast with the strongest technique she possessed.

The ending was a crushing defeat.

After being beaten like a punching bag by the rampaging beast, Lu Hongdou was covered in blood from head to toe, with multiple fractures. She was pinned firmly against the rough ground by the beast's thick claws, and the beast's mouthparts were already pressed against her throat, about to pierce through that thin layer of skin and take her last life.

Just at that critical moment, someone saved her.

The one who came was a "Heavenly Maiden."

The so-called "Heavenly Maiden" was the general term people in the state of Donghua in that era used for this type of girl, because they appeared as heroes chosen by heaven to fight against rampaging beasts, protecting the safety of every household.

This time was no exception; at the moment when Lu Hongdou's life hung by a thread, the Heavenly Maiden finally appeared and saved her. Then, in less than a minute, she eliminated the monster that had almost killed Lu Hongdou.

The crowd cheered and rejoiced; people praised the Heavenly Maiden who came to the rescue, but only one person, Lu Hongdou lying on the ground, fell into silence.

This was partly because her injuries were too severe for her to speak, and partly because her concept of martial arts was shocked for the first time.

An enemy that her martial arts could not defeat no matter what was not a match for a single round before the "Heavenly Maiden." Then, what kind of power did the Heavenly Maiden use?

No one could tell her the answer.

Leaving aside the fact that the surrounding commoners did not know, even the "Heavenly Maiden" herself left directly after defeating the rampaging beast. And Lu Hongdou did not doubt at all that even if the other party had not left, they probably would not have answered her question.

She could only carry this question in her heart and continue to pursue her martial way.

She searched for one year, then two, then three; until the year Lu Hongdou turned seventeen, she still had not found the answer she sought.

And as time passed, her daily persistent training yielded very little effect. At this time, she finally understood the words her master had spoken back then—because she discovered that her martial skills could no longer produce qualitative progress.

She left the city and returned to the mountain. She sorted through her experiences and thoughts from these years, explained them one by one to her master, and felt regret, even despair, for her three years of futile effort.

"When I discovered this fact back then, I actually had the same feelings as you."

After listening to her words, her master, the old man who at this moment looked as if he was in his twilight years, spoke: "I also did not believe this fact, so I thought of traveling throughout the entire state of Donghua, crossing the wasteland, to seek the way out for martial arts. I even went to many cities that had already been abandoned, wanting to find a more ancient history there."

"Did Master find the answer?" Lu Hongdou was very curious about this.

"No, because the martial arts of Donghua have never been a developed skill. It has had many opportunities for prosperity, but ultimately failed to survive."

The old man shook his head: "And the realm we have now reached, the ancients called the 'Postnatal Limit.' That is to say, relying solely on postnatal effort, one cannot break this shackle no matter what."

"The ancients had no way either?" Lu Hongdou's disappointment overflowed on her face.

"Indeed, they had no way."

The old man's voice was calm: "But there were conjectures."

"Conjectures?" Lu Hongdou was very interested in this word.

"Yes, a conjecture. Although it cannot truly be realized, many clues prove that a possibility indeed exists for the future of the Martial Way."

The old man nodded and said, "And for this possibility, we call it 'Momentum'."

"Then what does that mean? Is it about using one's own momentum to make the opponent afraid?"

"No. The so-called Momentum is not merely a word, but the collective term for 'Qi' and 'Shi'. The progress of the Martial Way beyond the physical body is imprisoned by the limits of the Mortal Realm, but if one masters the power of Qi and Shi, perhaps one can go further..."

That day, the old man spoke many words.

As if being chased by something, he told Lu Hongdou everything: his observations from years of wandering the Eastern Hua Province, the historical materials he had collected, and his insights into martial arts, staying awake all night.

Lu Hongdou felt no annoyance, for she vaguely sensed something.

She conjectured that perhaps this was the last time in her life she would speak with her master.

After the all-night long talk, the old man showed clear signs of exhaustion. His breath was faint, he leaned against the chair, and his voice was as thin as a mosquito's hum, yet he persisted in grasping Lu Hongdou's hand to speak his final words of instruction to her.

— "Remember, everything of a martial artist begins with Righteousness. With Righteousness, martial arts can be called the Martial Way. Without Righteousness, the Martial Way does not exist..."

The next day, the moment the morning light illuminated the mountains, the old man closed his eyes forever.

Lu Hongdou did not understand his last words, but that did not prevent her from engraving them in her heart.

Then, she chose to become a "Heavenly Maiden".

Because during her conversation with the old man, she understood that merely refining martial arts would not find a way out; the best method was to learn from others and seek answers from other paths of power.

The process of becoming a "Heavenly Maiden" was also extremely simple. She merely found the Heavenly Maiden who had saved her back then, expressed her gratitude and admiration, and received a chance to test her aptitude. After the examination, she indeed possessed the talent to become a Heavenly Maiden.

From then on, she rarely used the name "Lu Hongdou" anymore, but instead used her alias as a Heavenly Maiden—Tang Changpu.

Or rather, "Heavenly Maiden" is not actually called "Heavenly Maiden". The true name these girls acknowledge for themselves is actually "Magical Girl".

The Martial Way practitioner Lu Hongdou became the Magical Girl Tang Changpu.

Of course, becoming a Magical Girl did not mean she abandoned the Martial Way. On the contrary, precisely because she became a Magical Girl, she became even more obsessed with martial arts.

While other Magical Girls studied the capabilities of Magic Armor, she studied how to combine Magic Armor with her own martial techniques.

While other Magical Girls studied the usage of spells, she studied how to use magic power to open her acupoints and artificially create "Qi".

While other Magical Girls reached the peak of Ability Bloom and studied how to use "Great Prosperity" to maximize combat power, Tang Changpu studied the essence of "Shi".

This research could not be separated from the power of the Magical Girls, nor from the support of magic power, so Tang Changpu eventually gave up all life in the Material World, entered the Kingdom, and became a citizen of the Magical Kingdom.

Because of this, she became reclusive, distant from human interactions; because of this, she became unkempt, holding nothing else in her heart; because of this, she became obsessive, with "becoming stronger" sufficient to replace everything.

Under such constant seeking, finally, Tang Changpu succeeded.

She not only successfully reproduced the "Qi" and "Shi" in theory, but even combined these two with magic power, founded her own school, and became an outstanding figure in combat power.

But at the same time, Tang Changpu also failed.

Because she discovered that her "Qi" and "Shi" were less like the Martial Way and more like an application of magic power using Martial Way thought. This application was highly bound to the power of the Magical Girls; once she lost magic power, she would also lose her "Qi" and "Shi".

This was something she could not accept.

The future path of the Martial Way she wanted must be pure, achievable solely through practicing martial arts. If it must rely on magic power to complete the future path of the Martial Way, then it is not the Martial Way at all, but merely a branch of the Magical Girls.

Regrettably, even after joining the Magical Kingdom, the time a Magical Girl possesses magic power is not infinite. As the term of office grows long, or situations arise such as injury and loss of combat power, even a Magical Girl who has joined the Kingdom may face the situation of being forced to retire.

Tang Changpu was undoubtedly one of them.

During that period of time she was unaware of, she had already wasted too much time on the Martial Way, and thus rarely undertook high-difficulty missions.

In other words, her contribution to the Magical Kingdom was too small.

Occupying the power of a Magical Girl but not hunting Remnant Beasts, or fighting to protect the Kingdom and the Material World, a Magical Girl like her would very likely be forcibly retired.

And once forcibly retired, her "Qi", her "Shi", everything she mastered, would vanish like bubbles, no longer existing.

It was under these circumstances that one day, Tang Changpu's superior, the Magical Girl in charge of the Treasury, codenamed Purple Diamond, found her.

"Dear Tang Changpu, my most capable assistant, I have a way to help you master the magic power of Remnant Beasts. It might be helpful to your research."

She got straight to the point and directly proposed her conditions to Tang Changpu.

"... Boss, let's speak plainly. What do you want me to do?"

At this time, years of research and cultivation had long made Tang Changpu forget the hatred for Remnant Beasts from her childhood. Rather, compared to her obsession with the Martial Way at this moment, that hatred was long ago insignificant.

"I plan to leave the Kingdom and establish an organization of my own."

To this, Purple Diamond only smiled, speaking softly as if a girl confiding her heart to a close friend: "Go help those Magical Girls and Fairies who are not accepted by the Kingdom. Outside the Kingdom, build a home belonging to us."

"Including Magical Girls like you who might be forcibly retired next. As long as we unite, we can also avoid retirement and keep this power for ourselves."

"You will come to help me, right?"