Chapter 23

After Guan Xihui left, Zhang Yan and He Kaihai continued to chat idly.

Suddenly, the image in the water curtain in front of them changed.

The patterns and text on the Return-to-Old Stele became three-dimensional, pulled into a piece of distorted light, detached from the stele, and drilled into the eyes of a young man.

That young man was Zhang Gui.

"Only when the memory of a fifth-grade technique produces a response can it 'drill into the brain through the marrow'.

It seems this Zhang Gui really has something extraordinary."

Zhang Yan commented with great surprise.

"Since you think he is a talent, my lord, I will talk to him properly later and let him abandon the light for the darkness."

"Even a simpleton like you knows we are the darkness, so why should this kid defect for nothing?"

"Then let's teach him a lesson first, then give him some benefits, and use a mix of kindness and power to make him abandon the light for the darkness."

"The 'Vertical and Horizontal Book' was never a top-tier technique; even the hardest swordsman technique is very simple to practice, let alone the four empty-handed ones.

Zhang Gui is not worth my mix of kindness and power; let it be."

Time flowed, and in the blink of an eye, it was night.

Twilight drove away the sunset and enveloped Blackwood Town.

In the underground training room, the 'Swaying Shadow Text Array' gradually stopped running.

The patterns and text on the 'Spirit-Returning Stele' also became increasingly dim.

Finally, with the sound of an eggshell cracking, the 'Jade Talisman Book' in the text array turned into powder.

The mechanism was activated, and the solid stone floor rippled with water, swallowing everyone again.

When he regained his consciousness, Zhang Gui had already returned to the kitchen.

This time, the four techniques—Vertical and Horizontal Flying Runner, Vertical and Horizontal Flowing Fire Fist, Vertical and Horizontal Wind-Seizing Hand, and Vertical and Horizontal Finger Crossbow Master—which lead directly to the fourth grade, were all firmly remembered in his brain.

Having made a big profit, Zhang Gui looked around calmly and saw that it wasn't just the dozen or so managers,

But hundreds of shop assistant heads, senior clerks, and shop assistants with the surname Zhang from the entire Blackwood Town were actually squeezed here.

Filling the large kitchen to the brim.

Stunned for a moment, he pretended to be dumbfounded and stood where he was in a daze.

Everyone else in the kitchen had also memorized more or less the techniques in the 'Vertical and Horizontal Book'.

Feeling that everything was hard to understand, they could only pretend to be stupid.

Hundreds of people looked at each other, speechless.

Finally, the stout and weak Zhang Basheng among the managers was truly tired and hungry, couldn't take it anymore, and shouted with a hoarse voice:

"It's dark and windy outside, and we've been inexplicably trapped for a whole day.

No matter what, let's disperse first.

Blackwood Town has ships coming and going from the mainland every three to five days; there will naturally be an explanation in a few days."

Once someone spoke first, things were easier to handle, and people followed suit:

"Since Manager Basheng has spoken, let's disperse first."

"That's right, whether the matter is big or small, we'll know when the time comes.

We hundreds of people, no matter how far or near, all have the blood of the Pingyang Zhang Family flowing in us.

We didn't steal, didn't rob, didn't kill or set fires; who can do anything to us?"

Once this was said, everyone's anxious hearts immediately settled down.

That's right.

If three or five, or even ten or twenty people inexplicably obtained the techniques of the 'Vertical and Horizontal Book', they would inevitably be in big trouble regardless of whether they memorized them or not.

But hundreds of people, hundreds of people with the blood of the Pingyang Zhang Family, whether direct or collateral!

Even the most sinister clan big shots could only raise the board high and put it down gently, letting the matter pass in a muddle.

Since ancient times, the law not punishing the masses has always been a golden rule.

Everyone dispersed one after another.

Zhang Gui returned to the Market Office and hid in the side room.

The night grew deeper.

Zhang Gui didn't light a lamp or start a fire.

According to the techniques he had just learned, he began to make various attempts.

Whether it is the legacy of the God-Demon bloodline that wins at the starting line, or the heaven-defying change of fate of an ordinary person,

Cultivation actually involves the transformation of 'Body, Heart, and Spirit'.

Body, which is Qi and blood, is the surplus of strength, originating from the 'Liver'.

Heart, which is Qi essence, is the rhyme of Qi, originating from the 'Lung'.

Spirit, which is the Primordial Spirit, is the source of the Spirit, originating from the 'Brain'.

The general public feels that 'Heart follows Spirit, and those who labor with their hearts govern others, while those who labor with their strength are governed by others'.

Sitting still and meditating is more high-end than regulating Qi.

Regulating Qi without moving is more high-end than moving hands and feet to practice.

Thus, a chain of contempt was formed.

Although this is indeed the case in most situations, it is not strange that top-tier or even top-level bloodline or cultivation techniques involve the field of blood and Qi.

And the four techniques that fell into Zhang Gui's head like a pie—Vertical and Horizontal Flying Runner, Vertical and Horizontal Flowing Fire Fist, Vertical and Horizontal Wind-Seizing Hand, and Vertical and Horizontal Finger Crossbow Master.

The first three focus on Qi and blood, while the last one cultivates Qi essence.

When Zhang Gui, for the first time in his life, captured this ethereal thing called 'Qi and blood' with his own will.

He discovered that a certain mysterious power in his body moved in response.

Unfortunately, a jump was not as powerful as using the Divine Cong 'Swift Legs' in daily life, so he immediately felt that the technique was not as good as the Divine Cong.

This is reasonable; the Divine Cong originates from ancient great beings.

With a wave of their hands, they can overturn mountains and seas.

When a kick from you can be equivalent to a nuclear explosion, unless you are mentally ill, why would you need to practice any bird cultivation?

But for a small fry like Zhang Gui, techniques are still very useful.

He first did a spinning kick, followed by a sweeping kick, followed by a heart-piercing kick... the wind was sharp and he was free, feeling that it was a hundred times stronger than the 'turtle fist' he created himself.

After using the Vertical and Horizontal Flying Runner, he tried the Flowing Fire Fist.

After a few stances, hot mist filled the air.

It seems that the focus of leg techniques and fist techniques is on agility and power respectively.

Then Zhang Gui tried the Vertical and Horizontal Wind-Seizing Hand.

He found that the focus of this technique was also agility, and it was clearly more compatible with the Vertical and Horizontal Flying Runner than the fist technique.

Finally, he mobilized his lung meridian and flicked his fingers, and compressed air bullets condensed from steam were ejected from his fingertips.

Hitting the stone wall, although it didn't leave obvious marks.

But the hot air from the steam explosion made a hissing sound, scalding the white paint on the wall and dripping onto the ground.

This fully proved that the temperature of high-compressed steam is not just a mere boiling point.

Theoretically, it can be infinitely increased with the enhancement of compression density.

Just as he was feeling satisfied, suddenly the main Divine Cong 'Great Growth' in Zhang Gui's body flashed with a faint light.

It gave birth to countless Cong hairs, which drifted with the blood to the flesh and skin, attracting and gathering together to form a new Cong, Multi-Arm.

Suddenly, the bones under his left rib broke through his body, turning into an arm like that of a seven or eight-year-old child.

It also flicked its fingers, firing a compressed air bullet.

Although the power was inferior, the function was exactly the same.

"Divine Cong combined with techniques might be useless when the absolute power value is off the charts.

But at the small fry stage, it is definitely one plus one greater than two.

No, no, no.

I am the special among the special.

Two sets of main Divine Cong occupy several major organs, bones, flesh, and fluid systems; no matter the grade or completeness, it looks super high.

How can ordinary awakeners have such treatment?

It's not necessarily that the Divine Cong is just an auxiliary in battle.

Yes, it must be this.

It is said that the 'Vertical and Horizontal Book' has ordinary power among cultivation techniques; combined with my super Divine Cong, it can of course only be an auxiliary.

If it were a super powerful technique combined with an ordinary Divine Cong, the reversal of master and auxiliary would be inevitable."

(End of this chapter)