Wordless Book

The strange scene did not panic Xiang Yang too much. Instead, he was overjoyed. Reborn in another world, what could a shut-in who could not tell the four limbs from the five grains rely on to gain a foothold? Writing novels? Or this pretty-boy face of his? It had to be a cheat.

The snow-white square sheet before him was clearly the one from the old house in Xiang Yang's hometown. It might even have been the culprit behind his transmigration. But none of that mattered. The key was, what could it do?

As the question arose in Xiang Yang's heart, the white paper before him seemed to understand. It split itself into two layers. One remained as snow-white as before, while the other was densely covered in writing. Through Xiang Yang's eyes, the words engraved themselves deep into his mind, impossible to forget even if he wanted to.

After quite a while, Xiang Yang "rubbed" his somewhat swollen head and stared blankly at the white paper before him. A Wordless Book? Containing countless divine arts and ultimate techniques? Formed from fragments of martial arts from an entire world? Damn, that was awesome.

According to the information the Wordless Book had transmitted to Xiang Yang, it possessed no divine powers or extraordinary abilities itself. Its sole function was to provide its host with divine arts and ultimate techniques. Dragon Subduing Palm, Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens, Telepathic Finger, Little Li Flying Dagger—there was no martial art it did not know, only ones you could not think of.

Yet as the host of the Wordless Book, the way Xiang Yang acquired martial arts was uncertain. The word "Heaven" in Heavenly Book explained everything. Heaven was high, beyond question; all things followed fate. If the Heavenly Book was pleased, directly giving Xiang Yang a Buddha's Palm would not be a problem. If it was unhappy, even if it gave you a set of Wild Wolf Fist, you could only swallow your temper.

Of course, the most reliable method was still to follow the Heavenly Book's prompts step by step, complete the relevant tasks, seize the spiritual opportunities of Karma, and replenish the Heavenly Book's losses, thereby obtaining designated martial arts.

In Xiang Yang's view, this was a system wearing the skin of a Wordless Book. But this system was not so troublesome; it would not pull the sort of stunt where failing a task meant it would kill you.

On the contrary, this system was very human—and very willful. It did not matter if he failed to complete tasks. At worst, he would simply have no martial arts to cultivate. That was far better than being forced to undertake certain-death missions.

Just now, the Heavenly Book had already issued him three tasks. The first was to please Magistrate Li's wife, Madam Li, and win her favor. The reward was a divine art said to be cultivated by every man under heaven: the Iron Crotch Technique.

The second task was to kill Big Saber Hu Qiang, the third chief of Black Wind Stronghold who had hacked Xiang Da Niu to death. Success would reward him with a set of Hu Family Saber Technique;

The third task was to find the mastermind who had caused Xiang Da Niu's death and personally cut him down, avenging his father. Upon completion, the reward would be a set of Basic Breathing Technique.

Of these three tasks, the first appeared as completed in Xiang Yang's eyes. In other words, he did not need to do anything more. That Madam Li already liked him very much, so the Iron Crotch Technique was martial arts the Wordless Book was giving him for free.

As for the second and third tasks, they left Xiang Yang somewhat astonished and alarmed. He had thought some minor lackeys had hacked Xiang Da Niu to death. He had never expected it to be Big Saber Hu Qiang. Worse still, Hu Qiang had merely acted on someone's orders; the true mastermind was someone else entirely.

"Could it be the chief of Black Wind Stronghold? No, that is not right. If it were really him, there would be no need to investigate. So it must be someone else. It seems Xiang Da Niu either learned something he should not have known, or obtained something he should not have obtained. That was what brought disaster upon him."

Xiang Yang knew very well that Xiang Da Niu had been an utterly ordinary minor constable, not some peerless hero who had retired from the martial world. He did not even know martial arts, only roughly understood a simple saber technique that he used purely with brute strength. It had been given to him years ago by the county magistrate who had promoted him. For such an ordinary man to be plotted against and murdered, there had to be a secret behind it.

At that thought, a glint of cold light flashed through Xiang Yang's phoenix eyes. He clenched his fists, blue veins bulging across his fair skin. Even if the Heavenly Book had not issued this task, now that he knew the truth, he would investigate it to the bottom. After all, he was Xiang Yang now, and Xiang Yang was him. How could he leave his father's murder unavenged?

But when he thought of the system's tasks, Xiang Yang's head began to ache again. Never mind the mastermind; Big Saber Hu Qiang alone was not someone he could deal with.

Black Wind Mountain Stronghold was the most notorious bandit den in Anyuan and several surrounding counties. They had set up checkpoints and roadblocks beneath Black Wind Mountain, extorting passing merchants of their money and frequently abducting villagers and commoners. Even so, the authorities remained utterly helpless against this criminal force.

Its chief was always like a divine dragon whose head could be seen but whose tail could not. His true name was unknown, and people called him Big Beard. Captain Wang of Anyuan County had once fought him and returned in crushing defeat. He spent more than a month recovering at home before his injuries healed. Rumor had it that he was an expert who understood internal energy.

The second chief, Poison Scholar, did not excel in martial prowess, but he was full of cunning schemes. The authorities had repeatedly dispatched troops to encircle and suppress Black Wind Mountain Stronghold, only to have their efforts thwarted by his stratagems.

Especially two years ago, when Anyuan and Kunting Counties had mobilized five hundred county soldiers to forcefully assault the stronghold. Black Wind Mountain Stronghold could not withstand them, so Poison Scholar proposed the strategic tactic of breaking the whole into scattered parts and hiding the troops deep in the mountains, causing both counties to return empty-handed.

The third chief of Black Wind Mountain Stronghold was Hu Qiang, the very man who had directly killed Xiang Yang's father, Xiang Da Niu. Although Xiang Yang had never met him, he had heard people speak of him.

He stood nine chi tall and possessed boundless strength. The fine steel saber in his hand weighed a full seventy jin. Though he did not understand internal energy, his saber style was broad and sweeping. He had once split a stone lion weighing over five hundred jin in half with a single stroke, his might shaking the surrounding underworld. Even some martial artists with weaker internal energy were no match for him.

Just think—Lord Guan's Green Dragon Crescent Blade weighed only eighty-one jin. Hu Qiang could wield a seventy-jin saber, making him a fierce general of the first rank. With Xiang Yang's current skinny arms and legs, killing such a man was simply impossible.

Not to mention that Hu Qiang held a lofty position in Black Wind Mountain Stronghold as its third chief. To even approach him, Xiang Yang would first have to get past at least a hundred ferocious bandits.

Still, Xiang Yang did not lose heart. He was in the shadows while Hu Qiang stood in the light. He knew Hu Qiang had killed Xiang Da Niu, but Hu Qiang did not know that Xiang Yang already knew the truth. Thus, calculating with intent against one who had none, he was not without a chance.

What was more, Xiang Yang had now entered the county office and become one of its few constables. He could fully rely on the authorities' strength to achieve his goal.

But those were matters for the future. What concerned Xiang Yang most urgently was whether his martial arts could improve quickly. Otherwise, when he finally had a one-on-one opportunity, if his skills were lacking and he failed to kill Hu Qiang only to be slaughtered himself, people would laugh their teeth out.

His legs twitched, and Xiang Yang shifted from kneeling to sitting cross-legged, facing Xiang Da Niu's memorial tablet. His fair, handsome face was utterly solemn as he focused all his attention on the Iron Crotch Technique the Wordless Book had just taught him.

The Iron Crotch Technique, known as a man's romance. After cultivating it, one's little brother would possess boundless strength and become indestructible. The feat of Lao Ai's paulownia-wheel had been nothing more than an ordinary matter. These had once been realms the shut-in Xiang Yang dreamed of reaching, but now, what he cared about was how much this technique could enhance his combat power.