Chapter 32: Danger Approaches

【Name: Fang Xing】

【Age: 17】

【Occupation: Martial Artist】

【Second Stage: Sinew and Bone (Sinew Refinement: 20/100)】

【Military Fist Twelve Forms: 56/100 (Proficient)】

【Great Dragon Stance: 9/200 (Mastered)】

【Gate of All Realms (Charging)】

……

“Seventeen already…”

Happiness Home Community.

Fang Xing, focused on his attribute panel, let out a sigh.

The disturbance from the demonic bird at Qinglin Bazaar would surely cause turmoil for some time.

At least, today would definitely be chaotic.

So he chose to return directly.

According to the Gate of All Realms’s pattern, the next time he crossed over, he would appear in the basement of his D-57 rental unit.

“Perfect—avoids the chaos entirely. After all, I’m sitting on a mountain of gold now; fighting over a few copper coins would be ridiculous.”

Fang Xing rubbed his chin: “With demonic beasts running rampant, I really need a laser rifle—or I won’t feel safe. And I also need to get an A-rank martial art as soon as possible and start training.”

As for how to get an A-rank martial art?

Aside from the unreliable black market, he had only two targets.

The first, naturally, was Teacher Xia Long—he could call and ask. It might disturb his vacation, but Teacher Xia Long probably wouldn’t mind… right?

The second was Gu Yun!

This future junior certainly had the Ghost God Blade’s lineage.

Of course, having the Ghost God Blade’s lineage wasn’t special—it was one of the three standard high school textbooks, along with the Mad Eighteen Strikes and the Frenzied Demon Staff Art!

As long as your stage was reached, you could apply to learn it.

But she likely had some introductory guidance that could help him get started smoothly.

‘Without the Demon Blade, Ghost God Blade’s entry is extremely difficult—but I have my attribute panel. Maybe I can try?’

Fang Xing thought it over and decided Teacher Xia Long was more reliable, so he called him first.

“Ding. The user you are calling is out of service area. Please try again later…”

Soon, a sweet voice replied.

“Out of service area?”

Fang Xing froze: “Teacher Xia Long… didn’t go to another planet, did he?”

Interstellar communication was extremely expensive and couldn’t possibly be widespread across the Eaglet Star.

If Xia Long had gone to another planet for vacation, his phone being unreachable was normal.

“Looks like… I’ll have to wait until school starts to see Teacher Xia Long? Damn… I want to travel to another planet too… The Federation’s entertainment industry is highly developed—there are even planets dedicated solely to pleasure…”

After muttering to himself, Fang Xing called Gu Yun.

This genius top student was always available—she answered within seconds.

“It’s you. What do you want?” Gu Yun’s expression was cold, blunt and to the point.

“I want to learn the Ghost God Blade. Can you send me the detailed materials?” Fang Xing knew her style—get straight to the point.

“Ghost God Blade? Have you mastered the Demon Blade?” Gu Yun’s eyes lit up.

“No, I haven’t trained it…”

Fang Xing shook his head.

Gu Yun fell silent, then sent several video clips and documents: “I’m sending you my private tutorial videos. This version of Ghost God Blade is richer than the textbook and contains many secrets—but I must warn you: this is what my teacher taught me, infused with my own style. It may not suit you. And without mastering the demonic nature, entering Ghost God Blade will be extremely difficult—even if you enter, you risk going down the wrong path!”

“I know. I’m just previewing the new course. Thanks.”

Fang Xing smiled at Gu Yun and ended the call.

He knew well that martial arts were best learned through direct instruction and demonstration. Since she had taught Gu Yun, her materials were certainly richer than the public textbooks—but they also carried strong personal style.

What suited Gu Yun might not suit him; he could end up training himself into error.

‘But I have my attribute panel—I can still try.’

‘If all else fails, I can hire a private tutor. Even if each lesson costs tens of thousands of star credits, I’ve got some money now…’

Fang Xing calmed himself, then opened one of Gu Yun’s files.

First, the complete Ghost God Blade manual, with extensive annotations.

He skimmed through it quickly to get a general sense, then opened a video.

A screen appeared, showing a thirty-year-old woman in a black bodysuit, with a centipede-shaped scar across her face.

With Federation medical technology, such scars could be completely removed.

The fact she kept it meant it held deep significance—whether from love or hatred, he couldn’t tell.

A-rank martial arts are brilliant achievements forged by the Federation’s greatest martial masters, capable of mimicking the power of Yi-Jing-level techniques and safeguarding one’s spirit. The Ghost God Blade, by classification, can be divided into several stages: Meditation Method, Hypnosis Method, Ghost Slaying, God Slaying, Battle Against Ghost and God… To enter the Ghost God Blade, it’s best to first fully master the Demon Blade, control its demonic nature, and wield it at will…

The first step of the Meditation Method is to meditate on the Yi-Jing of the Ghost God Blade: “One blade in hand, no ghost or god remains!” Some martial artists misunderstand and substitute it with a “killing Yi-Jing”—a path proven wrong. During meditation, distracting thoughts arise and murderous intent surges—this is when the Demon Blade’s demonic nature must be used to subdue them…

…

The black-clad woman spoke at length, and Fang Xing felt he gained much insight.

“So Ghost God Blade doesn’t strictly require the Demon Blade as a prerequisite—it can be entered directly, but the difficulty is immense. It demands extraordinary meditation skill and a spirit already in the state of ‘no-thought, no-mind’ to replace the demonic nature…”

But what exactly is this “one blade in hand, no ghost or god remains” Yi-Jing?

Fang Xing wanted to complain.

In the video, the black-clad female swordsman simply drew her blade and told Gu Yun to feel it.

Through the screen, he felt absolutely nothing.

Indeed—direct instruction and demonstration. That’s the value of a good teacher. If it were Xia Long, he could have projected a Yi-Jing for me to experience properly—but now…

Fang Xing shook his head: “Even if the Federation lifted restrictions on ‘learning devices,’ such an elusive Yi-Jing probably couldn’t be transmitted through consciousness injection…”

Ghost God Blade, Ghost God Blade… To enter it, I’ll probably need to hire a martial artist who masters it, just to demonstrate the Yi-Jing. Most A-rank martial arts are like this—observing the Yi-Jing only grants training eligibility; it’s still far from actual mastery…

The difficulty of mastering an A-rank martial art made Fang Xing sigh.

…

The next day.

Old District, Black Market.

After disguising himself, Fang Xing returned here.

No choice—he still needed money.

So he’d bought large quantities of gold at junk prices in the bazaar using spirit sand, and now planned to sell it.

Selling the gold and laundering the money went smoothly.

Passing the Blood Cage Fighting Arena, Fang Xing paused, then walked in.

The bunny girl was still at the front desk today.

“Hello, Meat Bun… uh, that nickname’s a bit off. Can I change it?”

Fang Xing’s gaze dropped from the bunny girl’s plump red lips to her two large white mounds, and he spoke.

“Call me Zhang Jiarui!”

Zhang Jiarui smiled: “You’re here early again—the Blood Cage fight hasn’t started yet…”

Cough… If I want to experience the Yi-Jing of the Ghost God Blade, is there any way?

Fang Xing cleared his throat and stated his need.

“Ghost God Blade? As one of the three most common A-rank martial arts, many fighters here know it. The most famous are ‘Black Crow,’ ‘Iron Hand,’ and ‘Multi-Armed Blade’…”

Zhang Jiarui thought for a moment and replied: “You can book a weapon-based fight featuring one of these three—they’re likely to display the Ghost God Blade Yi-Jing. But the Yi-Jing triggered in combat is entirely different from that in teaching…”

Expecting to comprehend a Yi-Jing just by watching a fight was as absurd as dreaming.

“I see. Then book me a fight featuring all three as soon as possible.”

Fang Xing pulled out his black market communicator.

“Available. The next one is in two days, at 9 PM—‘Iron Hand’ will be fighting!” Zhang Jiarui checked the schedule and gave the details: “General seating: 5,000 star credits per person. VIP seating…”

“General seating is fine.”

Fang Xing waved his hand. The black market’s prices, no matter how many times he saw them, still made his heart race.

He received a fight invitation, wandered the black market a bit more, then headed toward the New District.

In the darkness, a lizard seemed to glance at him, flicked its tail, and vanished into the sewer.

…

Beneath the streets, a labyrinth of pipes crisscrossed, reeking of foul odor.

The old district’s underground pipeline blueprints had long been buried in history’s dust, now a tangled mess no one could fully map.

In a hidden room, a rough-skinned hand seized the lizard, its triangular eyes glinting with a smile: “Finally, a suitable target? Each of my last few strikes netted at least 500,000 star credits, right?”

Honestly, this amount didn’t attract serious players—it wouldn’t even cover the cost of black market firearms.

But he didn’t mind making one move.

After all, the target looked weak.

‘Carrion Eater’ Lans was a negligible nobody in the black market—but even so, he was a Puyu-stage martial artist who had awakened an ability: communication with small animals.

This time, he set his sights on Fang Xing!