Secret Manual

Inside the detached villa at No. 188, Mingyue Residential Area, Yangzhou City.

Xia Zhi had just returned from the martial arts hall headquarters in the Main urban area when he found a stranger sitting in the living room, with his grandfather Xia Dahai keeping him company.

Seeing him return, the stranger handed over a sealed Alloy Box.

"Mr. Xia Zhi, this is the secret manual you purchased. You can open it with your fingerprint."

Xia Zhi took it and ran his finger across the top of the box. "Beep! Fingerprint verification successful."

An electronic synthesized voice sounded, and the Alloy Box opened, revealing the book and disc inside.

The roughly one-centimeter-thick book bore four ancient, unadorned characters: "Nine Heavens Thunder Blade."

At the sight of those four words, a trace of envy filled the stranger's gaze as he looked at Xia Zhi.

"Mr. Xia Zhi, please inspect it, then sign here."

The ultimate secret manual, Nine Heavens Thunder Blade!

A top-tier secret manual written by the world's second-strongest person, Thunder God. Ordinary martial artists could never afford it.

After confirming receipt, the stranger left. After greeting his grandfather, Xia Zhi eagerly took the secret manual to the martial arts hall on the third floor.

He opened the first page of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade manual.

"Fast!"

A single large character stood on the title page, like a flash of blade light slicing straight at Xia Zhi and making his heart tremble.

This was only a copied version of the original Nine Heavens Thunder Blade manual, not Thunder God's own handwriting. Yet a mere character for "fast" had made Xia Zhi's heart quiver. One could imagine just how terrifying its creator, Thunder God, must have been.

"When speed reaches a certain level, even a stream of water can pierce steel, and even a sheet of paper can cut through it!"

"Speed can leave your opponent with no time to defend!"

"Speed can make your blade unstoppable! Whether it is attacking from an enemy's weak point or relying on absolute force, making your blade faster is the best method!"

Thunder God's descriptions in the manual brimmed with boundless confidence.

"The Nine Heavens Thunder Blade I created has given me the fastest blade in the world! It has also given me the fastest speed in the world and the strongest body!"

Xia Zhi nodded to himself. In all martial arts under heaven, nothing is unbreakable; only speed cannot be defeated.

After finishing it, Xia Zhi gradually came to understand Nine Heavens Thunder Blade. The entire manual contained a complete movement technique, Flowing Light; a complete set of Guidance arts, Nine Heavens Primordial; and a complete blade technique, Thunder Blade.

Of them, the Guidance arts Nine Heavens Primordial were the foundation. Only through Guidance arts could one cultivate the body and increase one's strength.

The movement and blade techniques were methods, vessels for bringing out and applying one's own strength.

The reason the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade technique was so powerful was because it relied on a marvelous method of exerting force.

When practitioners of Nine Heavens Thunder Blade swung a slash, they used only seventy percent of their strength.

As they released that force, they made their body issue a second wave of force, also containing seventy percent of their strength.

The two forces stacked together, amounting to one hundred and forty percent of their strength!

Nine Heavens Thunder Blade had nine levels. Each level allowed one additional Hidden Strength to be released.

Once the first level was mastered, one could unleash one hundred and forty percent of one's own strength!

At the highest ninth level, together with the nine additional Hidden Strengths, one could unleash ten waves of Hidden Strength in total, allowing one to exert seven hundred percent of one's own power—an entire seven times one's original physical strength!

What kind of concept was that?

In other words, if Xia Zhi comprehended the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade technique to the ninth level now, then without accounting for his opponent's technique bonuses, his punching strength alone would nearly rival that of an Intermediate General!

Crossing an entire rank in strength—that was the power of an ultimate secret manual.

"This blade technique seems to have drawn heavily from the force-generating subtleties of Huaxia's ancient internal martial arts and India's ancient yoga techniques. Its demands on the body are simply extreme. Without extraordinary physical fitness, it can't be cultivated at all. No wonder it is called an ultimate secret manual."

As he flipped through the manual, Xia Zhi occasionally mimicked the movements and techniques with his hands. Gradually, even a hand blade cutting through the air produced bursts of whistling wind.

"The eighteen blade moves of the first level gradually guide the practitioner into sensing the method of exerting force. Once the first level is understood, it is mastered."

"Mm, that should be it." With that thought, Xia Zhi's continually moving right arm suddenly swept forward at high speed. Just as its force was spent and its speed was about to slow, his muscles, tendons, and bones trembled, and another wave of force surged forth.

His hand blade, which had already reached its speed limit and was about to slow, instantly doubled in speed.

"Whoosh~~"

An even sharper sound rang out.

"Ha, I did it. You really get what you pay for. If I hadn't bought this manual, it would have been difficult to figure out on my own how to bring out the physical advantages cultivated by the Supreme Body Refining Art."

At that moment, Xia Zhi deeply felt the convenience of building upon the experience of those who came before.

The reason humanity had grown ever stronger and risen to the top of Earth's food chain was the passing down of the torch. The inheritance of each generation's finest experience had continually accelerated evolution and development.

"Continue, continue."

Having just cultivated the first level of Nine Heavens Thunder Blade, Xia Zhi enthusiastically continued training the second level of the blade technique.

Soon, the sound of air being torn apart repeatedly echoed through the martial arts hall.

Only when the room grew darker and darker, and his grandfather called Xia Zhi downstairs for dinner, was this state interrupted.

Sitting at the dining table, the trajectories and mysteries of the blade technique continued to surface in his mind.

He chewed his food unconsciously, but Xia Zhi was thinking, The force-exertion method of Nine Heavens Thunder Blade is very similar to the wave-stacking technique in internal martial arts.

I've already mastered the second level of the blade technique, but the third level demands too much from the body.

Even my current physique at the peak of the Intermediate Warrior level can't support the release of a third wave of force.

As expected, Guidance arts are the foundation. Later, I should cultivate the Guidance arts and raise my physical strength as quickly as possible.

Recently, Xia Zhi's physical improvement had gradually slowed. The Supreme Body Refining Art had an enormous demand for energy, but he possessed only this world's most ordinary Gene Energy cultivation method.

Other than the first time, the more he cultivated, the slower his body absorbed energy.

That was why he was greatly looking forward to Nine Heavens Primordial, the Guidance arts written by Thunder God and hailed as the best in the world, hoping they would bring him a breakthrough.

"Xiaozhi, Xiaozhi. Didn't you hear me talking to you?" Seeing that Xia Zhi had not reacted, his grandfather patted his arm.

Coming back to himself, Xia Zhi asked, "What is it, Grandpa? I was just thinking about cultivation."

"I was telling you, Grandpa Wang's grandson got married as soon as he became a martial artist, and the next year he gave him a grandson." Xia Dahai looked at Xia Zhi and said, "So Grandpa Wang had someone pick out photos of lots of girls for you. Take a look later and see if there's anyone you like."

In this world, after the Great Nirvana, the surviving nations had reestablished order.

Because the RR Virus and the monster attacks that followed had drastically reduced humanity's population, every nation had lowered the legal marriage age to eighteen.

And martial artists had to risk their lives fighting monsters in the Wilderness Zone. No one could guarantee that an accident would never happen!

Thus, it was especially common for people to start families as soon as they became martial artists.

Xia Zhi was eighteen this year and had reached the legal marriage age. Moreover, he had become a martial artist at such a young age, gained the favor of the martial arts hall, and signed an A-level contract.

Everyone knew that as long as he grew up, he was destined to become one of humanity's powerhouses.

So whether people came to inquire through others or contacted him directly, Xia Dahai had recently become the most sought-after man in the residential area.

Seeing the burning look in his grandfather's eyes, Xia Zhi vaguely felt sweat break out on his back. Just as he was preparing to find an excuse to slip away, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Xia Zhi said quickly, and his figure vanished from the dining table. He had even used the Flowing Light movement technique he had just learned.

Xia Dahai looked at the empty chair, shook his head, and laughed. "This child is already a martial artist, yet he's still so impatient."

After opening the door, Xia Zhi found it was the same man who had delivered the secret manual earlier that day. Behind him stood six sturdy young men, each carrying a case made entirely of alloy. Some even required two people to carry them.

"Mr. Xia Zhi, hello. The weapons and equipment you ordered from the Limitless Home online store have arrived. Where would you like them delivered?"

So the weapons and equipment Supervisor Zhuge Tao had purchased for him had arrived.

"Take them to the martial arts hall on the third floor," Xia Zhi said.

The man gestured to the young men behind him, who carried the cases into the villa and up to the martial arts hall upstairs.

Seeing the luxurious, spacious interior and the separate martial arts hall spanning several hundred square meters, the deliverymen's eyes were filled with intense longing and envy.

The man handed over a delivery receipt. "Please sign here."

After the handover was completed, the man said politely, "Then we won't disturb you any longer."

Soon, the group left.

Xia Zhi looked at the alloy cases laid out on the floor and opened them one by one with excitement.

Weapons and equipment that had cost nearly four hundred million, even with Zhuge Tao's two-star contribution value, appeared before his eyes.

Today, I finally received the contract notification and can resume updating. I'll risk my life to ensure two chapters a day. Dear readers, thank you for your support and encouragement! Without you, I truly would have doubted myself and given up over these past ten days! Thank you, everyone! I'll keep working hard! My deepest thanks!