The Marvel of Application, Residing in the Heart

After Miejue's contemptuous voice pierced the ears of the three men, she circulated her true energy. Her wide sleeves, like cloud bands descending from the nine heavens, gently brushed towards the nearest Third Leader.

Though the sleeves appeared slow, they moved with the speed of lightning, leaving the three men no time to react.

Almost the instant Miejue's sleeve was flung, the one-eyed Third Leader felt a bizarre, unparalleled spiraling force erupt from his blade's hilt.

The fierce, heavy force of his thousand-pound chop was skillfully guided, dispersed, and deviated from its intended path by that soft brush, like a raging wave crashing against hidden reefs and whirlpools.

The heavy ghost-head saber, along with his entire body, was uncontrollably pulled to the side, staggering and tilting. The blade's momentum was completely lost.

It caused him to lose his own balance. The sinews of his right arm felt as if they were being twisted and torn by a giant python, and the one-eyed Third Leader was instantly overwhelmed by piercing pain.

In almost the same instant, the Second Leader roared and brought his twin hammers down from front to back, smashing down with the force of splitting mountains.

The golden melon hammers, though only about three fists in size for an adult, each weighed over forty pounds.

Combined with the momentum generated during their swing, if they were to fall, the outcome would inevitably be a shattered skull and a dead man.

Miejue didn't even glance at the descending giant hammers. Her left palm, seemingly casually, lifted slightly upwards to meet the hammer's shadow.

The skin on the edge of her palm, under the firelight, shimmered with a layer of jade-green luster that seemed almost tangible.

The moment it touched the golden melon hammers, it caused them to spin and fly towards the First Leader, who had just approached, to the side.

The latter was startled and quickly raised his palm to strike.

Palm met hammer, and both were forced back several steps, their Blood Essence churning within them.

In just one exchange, Miejue had effortlessly neutralized the three men's combined attack.

Her serene and effortless demeanor clearly indicated she hadn't used her full strength yet.

As Gu Shao'an wondered why Miejue had suddenly become lenient towards the three, Miejue's lips lifted slightly, and her gentle voice, amplified by true energy, clearly reached Gu Shao'an's ears.

"Shao'an."

Gu Shao'an quickly focused and replied, "Shifu."

"Watch closely."

As soon as the words reached Gu Shao'an's ears, Miejue's figure had already moved like a phantom into the center of the three men who had regrouped.

Following this, Miejue's form blurred into streaks of faint green afterimages. With each palm strike, she didn't aim for instant kills like lightning, but precisely sealed off a vital position that one of them would have to defend.

Her palms flew, and the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, in Miejue's hands, sometimes flowed like gathering clouds, gently entwining; other times, it was like mountains and seas collapsing, fierce and unparalleled.

At this moment, Miejue suddenly raised her hand, using the third stance of Golden Summit Cotton Palm, "Pine Breeze Sending the Moon," to rotate and deflect the force of the golden melon hammer in front of her. She then flicked her palm backward like a whip, striking directly at the one-eyed Third Leader's ribs, forcing him to dodge desperately to the right.

Afterward, Miejue lightly raised her hand, her fingertips brushing over the First Leader's vital pressure points at his waist.

Startled, the First Leader retreated sharply. His sweeping palm wind then grazed the Second Leader's face, forcing him to raise his hammer to block, leaving his defenses wide open.

Though the three men exerted immense force and were ferociously aggressive, they were now being led by the omnipresent, rhythmically and strangely shifting palm shadows like puppets controlled by invisible threads, completely trapped in the "cage" Miejue was freely shaping.

While suppressing the three bandit leaders' struggles, Miejue calmly explained to Gu Shao'an.

"Shao'an, you possess extraordinary talent and exceptional comprehension. However, the path of martial arts, the wonder of its application, lies in the heart."

Her figure moved with ease through the flashing blades, hammering fists, and sharp eagle claws, her words perfectly clear.

"When a master fights, victory or defeat is not solely determined by the depth of their power or the strangeness of their techniques. True control lies in making the opponent fall into your predetermined net, thus anticipating their every move and seizing the initiative."

As she spoke, she pressed a palm seemingly gently onto the back of the Third Leader's saber. The latter immediately felt an irresistible pulling force that threatened to send his saber crashing towards the First Leader. Startled, he struggled to pull back.

"See. If I want his saber to veer left, he cannot go straight."

Miejue's voice carried a hint of icy demonstration.

She suddenly changed her move, lowering her shoulder and charging into the Second Leader's center. With a slight release of force, the Second Leader immediately grunted.

The heavy golden melon hammer was uncontrollably pulled from his grasp by a powerful force, smashing towards the Third Leader, who had just regained his footing.

"You cannot move right, and moving left is also a trap. Like a puppet on strings, every step you take falls into my snare. You are disoriented in advance and retreat, your life and death are solely under my control."

The three bandit leaders, who usually acted with impunity, were now sweating profusely and struggling to breathe under the shroud of Miejue's palm wind.

Every perceived breakthrough or counterattack only served to plunge them deeper into that invisible rhythm of death.

In their eyes, only expressions of absolute horror remained as they looked at the controlling, god-like green figure, experiencing for the first time the vast chasm of difference.

If Miejue hadn't intended to use the three of them as teaching material for Gu Shao'an, they would have been dead long ago.

Miejue would have killed them all with a single palm strike.

The firelight cast flickering shadows on their faces. The one-eyed Third Leader no longer showed any of his previous rage; like the other two bandit leaders, only fear remained on their faces and in their hearts.

Watching Miejue's palms fly, her palm wind and shadows forming a cage that enveloped the three bandit leaders, Gu Shao'an's expression was one of intense focus, his mind constantly placing himself in Miejue's position.

The battle in the arena continued, and Miejue's voice occasionally reached Gu Shao'an's ears.

As time passed, Gu Shao'an's thoughts began to surge.

His ideas, like a tide, surged continuously.

In this unique state, Gu Shao'an's thoughts became noticeably more active.

Gradually, Gu Shao'an's thinking also began to change.

From initially pondering the deeper meaning of each of Miejue's moves, to the variations in her techniques when she attacked.

By the end, Gu Shao'an even began to try and put himself in Miejue's shoes, imagining what moves the three bandit leaders would use next and how he should counter them with the Golden Summit Cotton Palm.

The process might have been similar to Miejue's upcoming moves, or different.

But after careful consideration and comparison, the moves Miejue used were more suitable and required less effort than those Gu Shao'an employed.

Noticing Gu Shao'an's occasional frowns and smiles, Miejue's eyes crinkled with amusement.

Miejue had seen this reaction from Gu Shao'an many times before on Mount Emei.

It was the expression he made whenever he gained insights during his cultivation.

Seeing Gu Shao'an display that look again, Miejue knew instantly that Gu Shao'an had gained some understanding of her current teachings.

She immediately continued to control the three bandit leaders in front of him with the Golden Summit Cotton Palm, allowing Gu Shao'an to observe.

Gu Shao'an, in turn, fully focused on observing Miejue's fight with the three bandit leaders, occasionally showing a look of sudden realization.

After a long while, a prompt suddenly popped up before Gu Shao'an.

[Congratulations to the player for reaching Entry Level in combat awareness. Achievement Points +200.]