The Missing Technique

As Li Yi and the others arrived at the designated location.

In the danger zone, there was a long-abandoned zoo. No one had set foot in it for a full ten years. The zoo was overgrown with weeds and miscellaneous trees, the cartoon animal statues lining the paths were mottled and faded, and the amusement park rides were all aged and damaged.

However, what was baffling was that various animals were still confined in the zoo's cages. These animals were slightly different from the ones people were familiar with.

In the enclosure for tigers, a strange tiger paced slowly. It was hunched, emaciated, its once vibrant fur sparse, black, and white. What was unsettling was that in the darkness, its eyes glowed with an eerie green light, and its fangs were thick and large, protruding from its mouth like those of an extinct saber-toothed tiger.

"Roar!"

The ferocious tiger growled, its green eyes staring intently in one direction in the darkness through the yellowed tempered glass window. Its gaunt body slowly retreated, as if sensing a danger approaching.

A faint light appeared in the depths of the darkness.

It was a pair of eyes.

One pair was crystal clear and exceptionally divine, while the other pair glowed green in the darkness, like a specter.

Merely by approaching, the ferocious tiger, once at the top of the food chain, seemed to have become prey, forced to retreat.

Yang Yilong and Qin Qing had joined forces to enter this dangerous, abandoned zoo.

Though they appeared outnumbered, as cultivators, after numerous evolutions and transformations, they were now the most dangerous beings present.

"A mutated ferocious tiger?" Yang Yilong spotted the beast confined in the enclosure. His steps faltered slightly, and he frowned. "No, that's not right. Although it looks similar, this thing is definitely not a tiger."

"That should be the legendary... Biao."

Qin Qing, standing beside him, her green vertical pupils slightly shifting, said, "It's said that for every ten tigers, one Biao appears. Where there's a Biao, the tigers must all be dead. But it's strange, why would this Biao be locked up here? The zoo has been abandoned for ten years. If the animals couldn't escape, they should have starved to death by now."

"Moreover, to raise a Biao, you need a sufficient number of tigers. Unless, after this place was abandoned, something else took over and continued to feed the animals."

"Yang Yilong, do you think that thing did it?"

Yang Yilong replied, "That thing's intelligence is no less than a human's. The possibility of it raising animals isn't zero. But judging by its appearance, it doesn't seem to be raising animals for food. If it were just for food, there would be no need to spend so much time and effort raising a Biao."

"Let's keep looking."

The two continued to advance in the darkness. They ignored the Biao locked in the tiger enclosure. For them, their objective this time was the most important thing; some mutated beasts weren't worth their time.

They pressed on.

As they passed the monkey enclosure, they saw a humanoid figure standing on a rockery in the zoo. The creature was covered in fur, resembling an unevolved wild man or an ape, but with a human face. The contrast between barbarism and civilization was eerily unsettling.

The ape-like creature with a human face stared motionlessly at Yang Yilong and Qin Qing as they passed, its expression somewhat bizarre.

"Is that a mountain demon... a Mountain Demon?" Qin Qing sensed the strange gaze in the darkness. She turned her head, her green vertical pupils cold and menacing.

Their eyes met.

Round pupils met vertical pupils.

At that moment, the pecking order seemed to be established. The Mountain Demon on the rockery suddenly showed a terrified expression, and then with a faint whoosh, it vanished instantly, its movements unnaturally agile.

With just a glance, Qin Qing had scared it away.

"There are quite a few dangers in this place. If they aren't dealt with soon, in a few more years, both that Biao and the Mountain Demon from earlier will likely mature. It's said that humans can become immortals through cultivation, and animals can become demons. They are passively absorbing Cosmic Energy. As their intelligence grows, it's only a matter of time before these mutated beasts become demons."

Qin Qing withdrew her gaze and made a suggestion.

"Now I understand what that thing is trying to do." Yang Yilong smiled at the corner of his mouth. "It has quite the ambition. It's cultivating subordinates, wanting to become a king. Unfortunately for it, it's unlucky to have encountered me today, so its dream ends here."

"After I kill that thing, I'll deal with these creatures. I can't act rashly now, lest I alert it. Although I've set up many sentries, if that thing really wants to escape, cultivators at the Spirit Medium realm won't be able to do anything. I don't have time to chase after it."

"Okay." Qin Qing nodded.

The two continued their search in the zoo.

An unknown amount of time passed, perhaps ten minutes, perhaps twenty, until a strange cry, like that of an infant, finally broke the silence of the night.

Following that, a huge commotion erupted from a corner of the zoo.

Dust billowed, figures darted through the air, thick trees fell one after another, and the emanating aura startled all the animals in the zoo, causing them to cry out in fear.

In a dark corner of the zoo, a battle had broken out between an Extraordinary Creature and cultivators.

However, none of this concerned Li Yi.

He and Zhang Gao, led by Brother Tao, were crouched on the rooftop of an abandoned building, surveying their surroundings.

"Everything is normal. At least, there's nothing unusual on our side. This is good. Keep it up, and we can leave as soon as dawn breaks." Brother Tao retracted his gaze. He didn't dare to survey for too long, as he was in a danger zone and feared that looking too far into the distance might attract the attention of something that would then seek them out.

Li Yi asked, "Brother Tao, was that knife you were holding very special? Do you practice knife techniques?"

"This knife isn't special. It's made of special steel, just a bit expensive. I bought it just for self-defense." Brother Tao sat down again and chatted, "I don't know any knife techniques. I just rely on strength and accuracy when I swing it."

"You don't know knife techniques? Then what do cultivators usually rely on to deal with enemies?" Li Yi asked in surprise.

Brother Tao chuckled. "You newcomers really don't know anything. Let me ask you, what are the so-called knife techniques and fist techniques in our world used for?"

"Fighting, killing," Li Yi replied after a moment's thought.

Brother Tao nodded. "Exactly. The fundamental purpose of martial arts is for mutual combat, evolved from human interaction. Do you think this set of skills is suitable for cultivators? A cultivator's strength, speed, reaction time, and even vitality far exceed those of normal people. In ancient times, we cultivators would be like immortals."

"Human martial arts applied to cultivators is simply laughable. It's like the evolution of warfare. Ancient wars relied on cold weapons, which led to the development of swords, spears, sabers, halberds, and other weapons. Modern warfare relies on firearms, hence all sorts of guns, missiles, and other weapons."

"If in modern warfare, someone were to train swordsmen and archers to go into battle, wouldn't that make the enemy laugh themselves to death? Similarly, cultivators cannot spend a lot of time learning ordinary martial arts. If you could evolve martial arts to the realm of Techniques, then I wouldn't have said this. But I haven't heard of anyone who can achieve that yet."

Brother Tao chuckled as he spoke.

"But there's another situation that's an exception: they aren't practicing the martial arts of this world, but high-level martial arts passed down from another world."

However, Brother Tao's smile then faded, and he continued, "Li Yi, I know what you want to say. It's nothing more than that our world lacks techniques that match cultivators. Actually, this isn't just something you've thought of; all cultivators have thought of it. After all, the Skyfall Event only happened ten years ago."

"In ten years, our world hasn't had enough time to develop mature techniques. I said before that I bought this knife merely for self-defense. After all, most cultivators' bodies haven't evolved to be tougher than this knife's edge yet. And these things are easy to buy. If I had the means, I'd rather use firearms."

"Not using guns, what kind of cultivator is that?"

"If I had been carrying a Gatling gun just now, I could have turned that spider monster into a sieve. How could it have escaped?"

"But whether it's a knife or a gun, they are just a transition. They can't fully adapt to our world because even the best knives in our world can't cut through the scales of extraordinary creatures, and even the fiercest guns and cannons can't kill terrifying vengeful spirits. Some extraordinary creatures even have their own energy fields; they can destroy cities just by passing by."

"Then aren't cultivators very incompetent?" Zhang Gao asked curiously.

"No, our cultivators have infinite possibilities."

Brother Tao continued smoking and said, "I heard from Yang Yilong that cultivators in our world can adapt to any kind of 'technique' and can unleash its power to the fullest. It's just that we lack 'techniques.' To put it in the words of a wuxia novel, we are all masters with profound inner strength, but we don't know any martial arts."

"So we can only explore and create them ourselves?" Li Yi asked curiously.

"Exactly. Take Witness, for example. It's a technique created by cultivators at the Spirit Medium realm, and it quickly spread. After all, cultivators at the Spirit Medium realm are the most numerous. Some people in this realm will always come up with some new tricks. But the further you go, the fewer evolved individuals there are, and thus, the fewer techniques are born."

Brother Tao frowned as he smoked, idly lecturing Li Yi and Zhang Gao.

"Oh, speaking of Yang Yilong just now, I heard from other cultivators that Yang Yilong obtained some of the latest research results from cultivators. Then, inspired by myths and legends and using ancient artifacts as prototypes, he explored a technique of his own."

Suddenly, Brother Tao remembered something else and mentioned it.

"What kind of technique is that?" Li Yi pressed.

Brother Tao laughed heartily, "How would I know? I only heard about it. A cultivator at the Spirit Medium realm named He Jun accidentally stumbled upon Yang Yilong practicing in the underground training ground of that building earlier. Of course, he didn't just tell me; many people know. But Yang Yilong didn't mind, as this matter couldn't be kept hidden anyway."