Chapter 23

He was now dancing on the edge of a blade, allowing not the slightest mistake.

With his internal energy rapidly depleted and barely holding on, Song Qingshu resorted to a psychological warfare tactic.

To his surprise, Zhang Jie actually stopped upon hearing those words.

Just as Song Qingshu let out a breath of relief and Zhang Songxi was about to declare Song Qingshu the victor,

Zhang Jie smiled, his face neither flushed nor sweating, not a single bead of perspiration on his forehead:

“Senior brother, you’re right. All martial arts are invincible, but none can break speed.”

Then, Song Qingshu realized Zhang Jie’s figure had vanished!

“Young brother! You…”

Song Qingshu spun around urgently, but still could not find Zhang Jie.

For a moment, Song Qingshu spun like a headless fly within the training ground.

“Zhang Senior Brother’s lightness skill is terrifying!”

The watching disciples all drew a sharp breath.

They saw clearly: Zhang Jie had moved in perfect sync with Song Qingshu’s steps,

hiding in Song Qingshu’s blind spot, achieving complete invisibility.

Even Song Yuanqiao, Yu Lianzhou, and Zhang Songxi flashed expressions of shock and awe.

Zhang Jie’s lightness skill had already surpassed them!

If Mount Wudang sought someone whose lightness skill surpassed Zhang Jie,

only Zhang Sanfeng, the founding patriarch of Wudang, could match him.

Realizing Song Qingshu stood no chance against Zhang Jie’s display of lightness, Yu Lianzhou immediately moved to halt the match.

Yet why, as Zhang Jie’s own master, did Yu Lianzhou now seem not to side with Zhang Jie?

Precisely because Yu Lianzhou was Zhang Jie’s master—he could not favor Zhang Jie at this moment!

But Song Yuanqiao and Zhang Songxi stopped Yu Lianzhou:

The match had not yet been decided, neither contestant was in danger,

and as their elders, they could not arbitrarily end the contest.

The match continued.

“Young brother, young brother, where are you? Where are you?”

Slowly, Song Qingshu’s voice grew hoarse and strained.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jie moved with light steps, shadowing Song Qingshu from behind.

“Could it be… could it truly be spirits or gods?”

Not knowing the technique of blind-spot invisibility, Song Qingshu grew more terrified by the thought,

beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, his right hand gripping the sword so tightly his tendons bulged.

Song Yuanqiao, watching, frowned as he saw Song Qingshu’s loss of composure.

He never imagined his own son, whom he had placed such high hopes on, had such fragile mental fortitude.

A disciple close to Song Qingshu, seeing their usually calm and composed senior brother so unhinged, cried out in warning:

“Senior Brother, Zhang Senior Brother is right behind you!”

Song Qingshu whirled around instantly—still no trace of Zhang Jie.

Zhang Jie, now standing to the side, spread his hands:

“If you shout like that, what’s the difference from whispering right into my ear?”

“Ajie, don’t toy with your senior brother like this.”

Just as Zhang Jie was about to further torment Song Qingshu, Yu Lianzhou spoke.

He knew Song Qingshu had subtly targeted Zhang Jie in the past,

and he had no objection to Zhang Jie’s minor retaliation.

But Song Qingshu had never actually harmed Zhang Jie,

and besides, Song Qingshu was not only the face of Wudang’s third generation,

but also the son of Senior Brother Song Yuanqiao—enough teasing had been done.

To go further would be excessive.

“Yes, Master.” Hearing Yu Lianzhou, who was both teacher and father to him, speak,

Zhang Jie suppressed his mischievous urge and appeared calmly before Song Qingshu.

“Clang!”

Relaxed, Song Qingshu’s right hand went limp, and his sword clattered to the ground.

“So there are no spirits… no gods after all.”

Still drenched in sweat, Song Qingshu muttered blankly to himself.

“Uh…”

Now it was Zhang Jie’s turn to be speechless.

He had never imagined Song Qingshu’s mental resilience was this fragile.

Having read The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, he only knew Song Qingshu as a lovesick fool and a traitor,

he never knew Song Qingshu was also a terrified infant who feared ghosts!

“Qingshu, Confucius said, ‘The Master did not speak of spirits, violence, disorder, or the supernatural.’

As a disciple of Wudang, how can you be so fixated on ghosts and spirits?

Go immediately and copy The True Martial Emperor’s Demon Subduing Scripture three hundred times!”

Song Yuanqiao approached Song Qingshu, brow furrowed, reprimanding him.

“Yes, Father.”

Song Qingshu replied weakly.

That single word “Father” finally softened Song Yuanqiao’s heart,

and he signaled two disciples close to Song Qingshu to help him back to his quarters.

The disciples who supported Song Qingshu away felt their palms soaked.

It turned out that, at some point, Song Qingshu’s robes had been drenched in cold sweat!

Over at Zhang Jie’s side, Yu Lianzhou glared at him with exasperation:

“You toyed with your senior brother like this—I must punish you.

Your punishment: restore this training ground to its original state, not a single tile or inch different!”

Saying this, he turned and stormed off, face dark.

“Yes.”

What could Zhang Jie do, knowing he’d gone too far?

He could only obediently agree.

“I’m such a fool, truly.”

Gazing at the training ground before him—cracked tiles, hundreds of pits and depressions as if trampled by an elephant herd—Zhang Jie felt possessed by Xiang Linshao.

If he’d known he’d have to repair the entire ground alone, he shouldn’t have exerted himself so fiercely.

Yet he understood: this was Master Yu Lianzhou’s way of protecting him.

After all, tormenting Song Qingshu had gone beyond mere mischief.

If Song Qingshu had truly come to harm, Zhang Jie might have been executed under sect law.

“Ajie, how did you do it?”

At this moment, Mo Shenggu, Zhang Jie’s closest friend among the Seven Heroes of Wudang, approached curiously.

He knew well how poor Zhang Jie’s talent was in lightness skill and swordplay.

Not to mention the Divine Gate Thirteen Swords—he’d taught Zhang Jie the form over a dozen times.

Yet the lightness skill Zhang Jie had just displayed

reminded him of the Winged Bat King Wei Xiaoyi of the Demon Cult, famed for his lightness.

At the same time, several other disciples close to Zhang Jie gathered around.

Mo Shenggu, the youngest of the Seven Heroes, was also the most upright and courageous,

hating evil with passion, so among the third-generation disciples,

he was less a senior uncle and more another senior brother.

“My current cultivation is entirely due to my own hard work!”

Zhang Jie said with utmost sincerity.

The Zhang Jie from other worlds was still Zhang Jie, after all!

As for why Zhang Jie’s lightness skill had improved so dramatically in such a short time?

It could only be that the Heaven Sword Zhang Jie had poured all his attribute points into his body, while the Water Margin Zhang Jie had poured all his into his spirit,

and the powerful hardware combined with powerful software produced an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

His original self had been like a vast nation without a central hub—

each part brimming with immense power, yet never able to channel it as one.

And the Water Margin Zhang Jie had been like a wise monarch ruling a weak state,

And Zhang Jie of Water Margin is a monarch with wisdom but ruling a weak, minor state,

Even if the emperor and his ministers were united, they could still not unleash great power.

And with the arrival of shared space, vast and powerful nations welcomed wise emperors,

Naturally leading to the unlocking of their potential and a massive surge in strength.

He now felt his once uncooperative muscles obeyed him as if they were extensions of his own will; learning martial arts felt as if aided by divine intervention!

“If you don’t want to say, then don’t.”

Several disciples shook their heads, clearly unconvinced.

“Have you ever seen Mount Wudang at three in the morning?”

Zhang Jie immediately adapted the “Have you ever seen Los Angeles at four in the morning?” doctrine of hard work.

Mo Shenggu and the other Wudang disciples had never encountered such a mind-washing method that crossed eras.

They were instantly fooled into stunned silence by Zhang Jie.

The Inventor King—or rather, the patent troll Edison—had a famous saying:

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

This statement had some truth to it, but he didn’t finish it:

“Sometimes, one percent inspiration is more important than ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

People differ from one another, or rather, the gap between people,

Sometimes exceeds the gap between humans and dogs.

Zhang Jie still clearly remembered what Master Qian had said:

“No matter how stupid a person is, can’t they learn calculus?”

…

Yu Lianzhou and the others could find no other explanation, so they assumed Zhang Jie had finally unlocked his potential.

After all, the Yitian world had no celestial treasures or martial arts capable of enhancing comprehension.

There were legends of martial arts that could improve innate talent—that was the Shaolin secret, the Yi Jin Jing.

But these were merely legends; apart from the Shaolin monks,

Other martial artists regarded the Yi Jin Jing as merely another divine art, like the Nine Yang Divine Art.

After all, only Shaolin high monks could cultivate the Yi Jin Jing,

And which of those high monks was truly foolish or dull?

And as for lightness skills, they truly tested one’s innate talent.

Wei Yisheng, the Green-Winged Bat King of the Ming Cult, had unremarkable martial skill, internal strength, and combat power,

Yet he stood alone in lightness skills, earning himself the position of Guardian Dharma King.

His movement was as swift as lightning, as elusive as a ghost; even masters like Mei Zhi and Yang Xiao fell far behind him in lightness skill.

Due to his peerless lightness skill, ghostlike movements, and blood-drinking habits, he earned the nickname “Green-Winged Bat King.”

This lightness skill was not acquired through conventional cultivation, but stemmed from Wei Yisheng’s extraordinary innate talent.

History has no shortage of men who, in a single moment of awakening, became entirely different and achieved great deeds.

For example, Guan Zhong of the Qi state during the Spring and Autumn period; early in life, he was neglected,

But after being appointed by Duke Huan of Qi, he proposed policies such as “Respect the King and Repel the Barbarians,”

Assisting Duke Huan to become the first of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period.

Thus he pioneered governance through civil means and became a forerunner of Legalism.

Oddly enough, although Yu Lianzhou and the others did not know this was because Zhang Jie’s golden finger had finally activated,

They had accidentally guessed part of the truth:

He and the Water Margin Zhang Jie were originally the same person; after sharing with the Water Margin Zhang Jie,

He was no different from those who, upon sudden awakening, unlocked extraordinary talent.

And upon suddenly awakening, one is no different from someone who has awakened extraordinary talent.