Mysterious Charm

Damn it, was he messing with them?

Zhao Tiezhu collapsed. What the hell kind of Elephant Swallowing Art was this? He couldn't toy with people like that!

Many members of the Warrior Reserve Camp had already thrown caution to the wind and begun clawing at their throats with their fingers, trying to vomit up the Guanyin Soil and wood they had just eaten.

However, it was completely useless. Guanyin Soil was highly adhesive. Once it entered the intestines and stomach, it sank, then clumped together until it formed one solid mass. It was extremely difficult to vomit back up.

The men of the Warrior Reserve Camp vomited even bile, but all they brought up were a few splinters of wood. The Guanyin Soil was still clinging to their stomachs.

For a moment, every one of the men was dumbstruck.

"Lord Zhang, please don't joke around with us commoners. We couldn't understand that movement at all!" Many of the men were on the verge of tears.

"How could anyone possibly learn movements like those?"

Facing the complaints of the Warrior Reserve Camp members, Zhang Yuxian remained cold and expressionless. He merely performed the twelve movements of the Elephant Swallowing Art again. This time, he deliberately slowed down, allowing the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp to see them a little more clearly.

However, Yi Yun discovered that when Zhang Yuxian slowed down, an intangible quality vanished from the movements!

And that very quality seemed to be the essence of the entire set!

"Let me try!"

At that moment, Lian Chengyu stepped forward.

Lian Chengyu had also eaten quite a bit of Guanyin Soil and wood.

Lian Chengyu did possess some comprehension ability. He barely managed to demonstrate Zhang Yuxian's movements once, but in reality, his movements had already become badly distorted.

Of course, only Yi Yun could tell that. Zhao Tiezhu and the others were already worshiping him with utter admiration.

"Young Master Lian truly is a divine man!"

"Impressive! He can even perform movements like those!"

Zhao Tiezhu and the others began lavishly flattering him. They truly admired Lian Chengyu beyond measure, feeling that he was simply outrageously formidable.

But after sizing up Lian Chengyu for a while, Zhang Yuxian merely said flatly, "Passable."

That evaluation left Lian Chengyu feeling somewhat defeated. The movements were indeed too difficult. To have performed them to this extent should have been very impressive.

Yet Zhang Yuxian had merely called it "passable." Wasn't he being far too demanding?

Lian Chengyu had always been confident in his own talent. He felt that it was not because he had performed poorly, but because Zhang Yuxian's standards were too strict and he was stingy with his praise.

At this point, Lian Chengyu noticed that Zhang Yuxian's gaze had settled on a certain spot. Following it, Lian Chengyu saw Yi Yun.

Yi Yun had his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought.

Lian Chengyu sneered inwardly. That brat ate so much wood and Guanyin Soil earlier. His stomach must be hurting badly by now.

The Elephant Swallowing Art is so difficult, and every movement is unfathomably profound. How could a twelve-year-old child possibly learn it? Best if his stomach swells until it bursts and kills him outright!

Because of Zhang Yuxian's praise for Yi Yun, Lian Chengyu had always harbored deep hostility toward him.

At that moment, Yi Yun was already completely immersed in his own world.

Yi Yun stopped watching Lian Chengyu halfway through, because only a few of Lian Chengyu's movements were even barely accurate. And in those few barely accurate movements, Yi Yun discovered that they all lacked that intangible quality!

From this, Yi Yun suddenly understood something. He closed his eyes and began recalling and contemplating nonstop.

In Yi Yun's mind, Zhang Yuxian's movements replayed again and again like a film.

After breaking through to the Meridian Realm, Yi Yun's five senses had become exceptionally sharp. Although Zhang Yuxian's movements were fast, Yi Yun still gained a unique insight into them.

Combined with the fact that he had lived two lives, possessed great comprehension, and had a sea of consciousness nourished by both Purple Crystal energy and meridian energy, the movements of Zhang Yuxian in Yi Yun's mind grew increasingly clear. First, their forms solidified; then, slowly, every movement began to possess that intangible quality.

Yi Yun discovered that the Elephant Swallowing Art was extraordinarily profound.

First, one ate things that were extremely difficult to digest and not easily expelled. Then, one used this marvelous set of movements to train the stomach and intestines.

If one focused on the outward form of these movements, their intangible quality would inevitably diminish.

But if one wished to embody that intangible quality, the outward form would no longer remain.

This was an exceedingly wondrous secret art!

This thought arose in Yi Yun's mind. He felt that the profundity of the Elephant Swallowing Art might even surpass that of the "Dragon Marrow Tiger Bones Fist." But why had it become the Army Suppressing Technique of the Brocade Dragon Guard, and why had it spread so widely among the lower ranks?

Now was not the time to think about such things. Following the feeling in his mind, Yi Yun slowly extended both hands.

Suddenly, Yi Yun moved. His eyes were slightly lowered, and without distinguishing direction, he relied solely on that mysterious, abstruse feeling in his mind to begin reenacting Zhang Yuxian's movements.

One movement after another, Yi Yun's thoughts grew clearer, and his speed increased as well.

In fact, to the onlookers, Yi Yun's figure even seemed to blur!

Zhang Yuxian's eyes suddenly lit up.

Yi Yun had actually simulated a trace of the Elephant Swallowing Art's intangible quality on his very first attempt! This had little to do with cultivation or bone structure. It was related to comprehension.

The difficulty of the Elephant Swallowing Art lay precisely in comprehension—the comprehension of that intangible quality within the movements. Zhang Yuxian himself had needed a long time to master the Elephant Swallowing Art, and during that period, he had suffered terribly from eating Guanyin Soil.

This boy Yi Yun had such high comprehension too!

When Zhao Tiezhu and the others from the Warrior Reserve Camp saw Yi Yun's movements, they were all completely stunned. They did not understand the profundity of the Elephant Swallowing Art, but no matter how stupid they were, they could still tell that Yi Yun was not performing the movements randomly. His movements actually gave them the illusion that they could not understand them!

"This... this boy..."

The group of men was utterly dazed. They did not need to judge whether Yi Yun's movements were standard. As long as they looked at Zhang Yuxian's increasingly brilliant eyes, they could reach a conclusion that left them utterly dejected: Yi Yun had truly reenacted the Elephant Swallowing Art!

"How is this possible? This lowborn little slave only watched Lord Zhang's movements twice and learned them?"

Zhao Tiezhu and the others had no idea how many times Zhang Yuxian had demonstrated the movements. They had merely seen Zhang Yuxian's movements blur twice and assumed that he had demonstrated them twice.

"Those movements are so difficult, yet he actually learned them?"

The members of the Warrior Reserve Camp found it impossible to accept. All along, they had held themselves above others. Deep down, they even felt that they counted as part of the ruling class of the Lian Clan.

Yet today, they had been trampled beneath the feet of a lowly pauper and suppressed utterly.

The stone mill they had taken such pride in lifting was worthless in Zhang Yuxian's eyes, while they were completely unable to learn what Zhang Yuxian taught them.

Even Lian Chengyu, the clan's most dazzling rising star, seemed to have been overshadowed by Yi Yun!

Lian Chengyu clenched his fists. Deep anger and frustration filled his eyes. Slowly, that trace of frustration transformed into a chilling killing intent!

(By the way, True Martial was blocked after being ranked on Sanjiang the day before yesterday. Thanks to Editor Z and Shuimo for their care. If you have Sanjiang recommendation tickets, feel free to vote for it. If you're reading on your phone and it's troublesome, never mind.)