Chapter 186 Old Secret Method

The next day, early morning.

Chu Hengkong got up earlier than everyone else. After arriving at the safe zone, he resumed his usual routine, getting up early and stretching his muscles.

He performed a set of Tai Chi—which had no practical significance for him now, but could relax his mind—and then began practicing the old moves from the 3,000 sets. These introductory martial arts techniques had been thoroughly mastered by him when he first became a skilled hand, ingrained in him, but now he had a new understanding of them.

He got a new arm, which could be deformed and stretched but was heavy; his heart was transformed by Qingxia's blood, and its structure was very different from that of ordinary people; there were still traces of mechanized transformation in various parts of his body, and perfect alloys were intermittently integrated into multiple bones from the spine, and several nerves and blood vessels protruded like spikes, entangled and spliced ​​with each other.

Even without being a professional doctor, Chu Hengkong could tell he wasn't "human." In Huilong City, Youyou would produce a detailed report, using all sorts of data to prove he was a bloody sea urchin in human skin, or something even more disgusting. Yet, his boxing was as agile as when he first became a skilled fighter. His muscles, bones, and heart moved naturally with the flow of power, so smoothly that it seemed as if this boxing style was tailor-made for the alien.

Only then did he understand the concept of a martial art accessible to all races, like a universal path, its essence remaining unchanged. The Master of Misty Fate had fused the most fundamental mysteries of life into his boxing techniques, creating what he called "entry-level kung fu." Whether you're a sea urchin or a crucian carp, you can become a skilled fighter. If you feel "uncomfortable" while boxing, then there must be something wrong with your body.

The moment he realized this, he began to feel unwell. It was like an old, unhealed injury flaring up, aching dully on a cold, rainy night. His spine was too hard and lacked resilience, his arms were heavy and powerful but also rotten, the temporary structures throughout his body were unstable, and his mental strength was too strong to control. He was now like a sleek, dilapidated building. If this continued...

“He’ll die.”

Chu Hengkong retracted his fist and turned around. The rabbit-like old man walked over with a cane, jumped onto the steps and sat down.

"Commander Chongming said this yesterday, but I need to remind you again." Silar lightly tapped him with his cane. "Don't act so recklessly. If you don't cure your hidden danger, the next time you fight, you'll be like those rotting, fermenting fruits. The skin will swell up, and then 'bang!'"

Silar clasped his little paws together and then opened them again, imitating the fruit exploding. Chu Hengkong smiled at this.

"Please teach me, senior."

The old man was also a "newcomer" back then. Newcomers would participate in the Hundred Stories and receive gifts from the old man. His survival from the 28th to the current 35th suggests that he, Silar, had learned the method of fighting against the outsiders, and he had mastered it quite well.

Silar pulled back his green robe and winked at him cunningly. On the old man's hairy chest was a decayed wound, within which lay a healthy, beating black heart.

"I made a wish to the old man, asking for another heart. For a time, I suffered from a split personality—two selves arguing in my head—until the warrior leader of the settlement at that time taught me a profound secret method.

This secret method has been passed down for a long time. It was passed down from Chief Chongming to the ancestors of the settlement, and then passed down through generations to our hands. Its core is..."

The old man poked his black heart with his fingertips.

"Have a fight with yourself," he said.

"...Huh?" Chu Hengkong laughed dryly.

"Once the external path merges into your body, it's wishful thinking to want to separate it. Whether you accept it or not, it becomes a part of your life. It will affect your personality and change your thinking." Silar said, "How long has it been since you had fun?"

"I……"

Chu Hengkong had wanted to say he'd played games not long ago, but he realized that was before he'd even left for Yingshi Town. After his transformation into a Hard Bone, his free time had been spent cultivating, and outside of that, he'd been constantly busy with battles. In his downtime, he'd been able to enjoy himself with "everyone," but he'd never had any fun of his own.

Even when he was working as a detective, he would still play with his mobile phone.

"Look, this is the efficiency of a true machine," Silar had anticipated. "Afterward, you'll become lazy and decadent, craving the love of others, for you still have the flesh and blood of the fallen within you. You might even become insane, clinging to certain meaningless concepts, like some special demon.

They are external defilements, and they are also you—so if you want to maintain your self, you have to defeat yourself, even harm yourself.”

This description was completely different from the Longquan Township lineage's philosophy of "absorbing external things and making them one's own." It was fiercely radical and unconventional. Chu Hengkong felt it was unreliable. Just as he was about to question it, he heard the old man slowly say, "This kind of cultivation method that burns the enemy is the so-called 'Zanxin' technique."

"...The practice of a person with a broken heart?"

"Compared to a practice method that details every step down to the smallest detail, this is more like a guiding 'outline.'" Silar took out two scrolls and tossed them to Chu Hengkong. "Try it! Back then, I was just copying, so I wouldn't dare claim to understand it. Why not ask Miss Qingye? As a young member of the Guangshi family, she knows much more than us laymen."

"Thank you, old sir."

"No need. This is my duty." The old man touched his cane with his little paw. "Also, practicing this secret technique has certain risks. It's best to let Qingxia watch over you."

Chu Hengkong remained silent, and Silar sighed.

"That child... doesn't understand what 'being in the world' means. Concepts like etiquette, consideration, and empathy don't exist for her. There's no 'society' in the wilderness. I can't teach her these things... She doesn't have them..."

The old man paused. He seemed about to say, "I meant no harm," but for some reason, he swallowed it back. There was a melancholy in his eyes that Chu Hengkong couldn't understand.

"Alas," he sighed, "if you need anything in your practice, please feel free to tell me."

Chu Hengkong thanked him again and watched the old man walk away. It was already morning, and the residents who had woken up began to strengthen their bodies. You could see young people fighting each other and competing in martial arts.

He returned to his room, took out the scroll, and studied it carefully. He discovered that the so-called Zanxin Secret Technique consisted of two parts: the mind and the body, with the mind as the primary and the body as the secondary. The mind technique required a unique breathing technique to enter a meditative state, and in the "One Heart Ritual," to defeat the externalized self, thus sharpening the spirit body. Only after completing the "One Heart Ritual" could one practice the body-building technique, subduing the externalized power and strengthening the physical body.

Chu Hengkong frowned as he read. This method was fantastical, yet interconnected. The scroll contained few abstruse words, and each step was written in great detail. Anyone who could read would surely understand how to practice. But the more he read, the more bizarre it seemed, because this method was all about relying on external methods to become stronger, without a single word about how to practice on one's own.

A technique founded on the premise of accepting outsiders...it looks like a trap for them, doesn't it? Aren't those with a broken heart afraid of going astray by practicing this technique every day?

At this time, Qingye came downstairs with a toothbrush in his mouth, with the energetic Fander on his head. Chu Hengkong unfolded the scroll: "Qingye, give me some advice."

"What the heck is this?" Finder stared wide-eyed as he came closer to take a look, his voice agape in amazement. "Oh! The Zanxin Secret Technique... so radical?! How old is this version?"

"An antique from before the integration!" Qing Ye also exclaimed, "What I've seen in museums are more modern than this, at least 400 years old..."

"What do you mean, this isn't what you practiced?"

Qing Ye said earnestly, "Mr. Chu, practicing the pre-integration Zanxinjutsu will kill you. A hundred people will die if you practice it."

"Aren't they all dead then?"

"That's right. Because the mind-body separation cultivation method relies too heavily on individual qualities, if you don't synchronize them properly, you'll instantly become an outsider." Qing Ye picked up the scroll and examined it carefully. "So later, the head of the family and the other two martial masters joined forces to integrate the modern Zanxin technique, solidifying each stage of cultivation with particles. This is how the Zanxin path, which is now widely practiced, came into being. The mortality rate for beginners has dropped sharply from 100% to 30%, which is truly a great achievement."

Ji Huaisu, who came downstairs later, was drinking hot water when he heard this and nearly spit it out: "Hey! We've already completed the integration and there's still a one-third mortality rate?!"

Qingye touched the back of his head and smiled embarrassedly: "Hey~"

"I'm not praising you, wake up!"

"There's an old saying on Shura Island that advises people to learn the martial arts of being struck by lightning. It means that you have to experience the pain of being struck by lightning yourself before you're qualified to teach others how to be a heartless person." Fander explained kindly, "Brother, although you're in imminent danger of the external Dao entering your body, there's no need to practice these life-threatening methods to commit suicide. I think we should wait until the support from Huilong City arrives, and then we can find a way to draw another talisman."

"There's no need to rush even if there's an opportunity." Chu Hengkong shook his head. "Qingye, how do modern Canxin practitioners practice?"

Everyone looked over, curious about what level of training was needed to achieve such a high casualty rate. Qing Ye, holding a toothbrush in his mouth, slowly said, "It's actually not that difficult... The first point of entry for the Canxin is 'Flash Finger', which is the fusion of dexterity and the power of glimmer. At this stage, beginners must learn to draw external forces into their bodies..."

Ordinary human bodies lack elemental power. Therefore, Zanxin practitioners seeking to enter the realm of the Elemental Pool must utilize specialized facilities known as "Elemental Pools." These pools are filled with a high concentration of light elements. Zanxin practitioners, barehanded, immerse their hands in the light.

Naturally, without a special constitution, the human body would inevitably be completely burned by the elemental force. Therefore, the training process must be extremely swift. Upon contact with the light, the ten fingers are immediately withdrawn, using secret methods to repair the body and seal the invading light element, taking it as their own. After repeating this process thousands of times, the initial heart practitioner can freely use the light element and has the hand speed to soak in the light without injury, thus becoming a full-fledged "Flash Finger" heart practitioner.

"...The mortality rate at this stage is actually not high. The injury is just the melting of the hands." Qing Ye said, "See, it's not that scary, right?"

Ji Huaisu was horrified: "Where the hell did your common sense go?! Whose skillful entry risk is losing an arm?!"

"Sister Huaisu, you are making such a fuss~" Qingye curled his lips, "At my current stage of 'sin bone', the danger has just begun."

"That's enough, stop talking. I haven't had breakfast yet and I don't want to lose my appetite!"

Those with a broken heart at the Sin Bone stage must use the Reverse Shadow to sharpen their bones in order to break through to Sephiroth Level 2. At this stage, they immerse their entire bodies in a pool of elements, using their honed Flash Finger to channel the power of shadow into their bones and carve it into their marrow.

The process was like driving gunpowder into bone, each step accompanied by excruciating pain. The slightest mistake would result in the entire body exploding. Once all bones had melted into the shadows and turned black, the Sin Bone was complete.

"...If you fail at this stage, your bones will be torn from your flesh, carrying the resentment of the deceased with them, and you will become a 'Skeleton Warrior'. If you ascend the Thousand Suns Castle at night, you will see many dead Skeleton Warriors awakening from the darkness. This is the fate of those who failed in their training..."

"Stop! Stop!!" Ji Huaisu yelled, "For the sake of my breakfast, this topic ends here!!"

Qing Ye looked regretful: "The main event is obviously in the next stage..."

"That's already pretty impressive! Just from your words, I can already understand how hard your life has been! Now I feel so lucky that my dad is a Dragon Country martial artist!!"

Vander's eye twitched: "What do you say, buddy?"

It was no surprise that it saw Chu Hengkong buried deep in the scroll, his eyes flashing with the kind of excitement that comes from encountering a strong enemy or a skilled opponent.

"Why not give it a try?" Chu Hengkong said.

(End of this chapter)