Azure Dragon Hand (Please Bookmark)

"Squad Leader Su!"

Zhong Shenxiu had been brutally tormented by the Death-Urging Ghost last night. Although Xiantian True Qi had offset most of it, the vital essence swallowed at the start would not be spat back out. He badly needed food to replenish himself.

He let himself eat his fill. He had just wolfed down three huge bowls of rice when a voice sounded beside him.

He looked up and saw another Red-Faced Man in a Squad Leader's uniform. The man smiled. "Never thought you were a big eater too. Just don't know how you can eat so much without putting on weight—you're awfully skinny... I'm Han Sui. We serve under the same Company Commander, so we'll have to look out for each other from now on."

"Of course, of course."

Zhong Shenxiu casually gave a few perfunctory replies, then swiftly snatched away the last piece of braised pork. The nearby Squad Leaders were instantly crestfallen.

Someone murmured, "Being able to eat doesn't mean he can fight. In a few days, when they select a Company Commander, there'll be quite a show to watch."

"A show? What show?" Zhong Shenxiu's ears twitched, catching every word clearly. Those who roamed the martial world needed eyes that saw in all directions and ears that heard in all directions. He turned to ask Han Sui.

Han Sui's expression shifted slightly before he smiled. "It's Tian Bufeng. No one knows whether he's dead or fled, but in any case, he's been dismissed. The Battalion Commander wants to choose one man from the ten Squad Leaders in our company to temporarily act as Company Commander..."

Though it was called a temporary appointment and still required paperwork to be sent to the Grand Protector's Mansion, Xu Wenling, the Battalion Commander, was the highest-ranking man in Black Mountain Fortress. If he submitted the report, those above would certainly approve it. This was a promotion in all but name.

Although a Company Commander had no official rank and was still below the lowest grade, it was nevertheless the pinnacle among military clerks. Undercurrents were already surging fiercely.

"I see..."

Zhong Shenxiu laughed it off and said nothing further.

After finishing his meal, he bid Han Sui farewell and headed to the logistics office to handle the procedures for taking over as Squad Leader.

First, he exchanged his military token and close-fitting waist saber, then received a set of fine leather armor, bracers, knee guards, and the like, as well as a small booklet.

The Logistics Officer did not make things difficult for him. Instead, he carefully reminded him, "Three days from now, the Battalion Commander will test your company. You may have only just been promoted to Squad Leader, but you still need to practice your Martial Arts. Don't make a complete fool of yourself..."

Zhong Shenxiu gave a wry smile, clasped his hands in thanks, and returned to his wooden hut.

He casually tossed aside the other items and looked at the booklet in his hand.

Its explanations were clear and easy to understand, and it described a Martial Arts technique: the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand!

The army had its own Martial Arts to pass down. Unlike the ordinary saber and fist techniques practiced by common soldiers, Squad Leaders naturally received new Martial Arts upon promotion.

The moment Zhong Shenxiu read through the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand, he was moved. "This technique may lack a Qi Refining method, but in every other respect it has been perfected, hammered and tempered a thousand times. In my previous life, it would have been a peerless martial art that made the martial world bleed and slaughter one another in endless struggle for it!"

"But in this world, even a Squad Leader with a little standing in the army can learn it. The gap is simply..."

He recalled Su Daozhi's memories and knew that the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand was extremely widespread throughout the Fufeng Protectorate.

This Martial Arts technique specialized in grappling. With a casual release of force, it could tear tendons and dislocate bones, making it a superior method for defeating enemies and securing victory.

Besides the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand, the army also offered the White Tiger Seven Kill Fist, Black Tortoise Hundred Refinements Armor, Vermilion Bird Burning Heaven Palm, and more for Squad Leaders and Company Commanders to practice. Together, they were known as the Four Symbols Battle Methods!

What a pity. Though the moves have been honed to the utmost limit, there is no Qi Refining method. At most, one can reach the Houtian Peak. Even if one learned all four Four Symbols Battle Methods, one would merely possess astonishing combat strength. Practice martial techniques but not inner cultivation, and in the end it all comes to nothing!

The distinction was like that between the true transmitted cultivation methods of the Daoist sects and ordinary Daoist arts.

"By that reckoning... if I had not yet controlled the Vengeful Spirit and reached Xiantian, then against that Tian Bufeng, I really might not have been able to beat him..."

Zhong Shenxiu rubbed his chin. "Lucky for me that he was unlucky... Though I accidentally released the Vengeful Spirit, I still had some control over it. Naturally, it treated the one with the greatest hostility—him—as its foremost target..."

As far as Su Daozhi knew, above the Four Symbols Battle Methods were Martial Arts of a higher realm passed down in the same lineage, such as the Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique, Giant Elephant Great Strength Art, Python Pill Swallowing Method, and so on. These were methods capable of leading directly into Xiantian, and only those at Battalion Commander level or above could receive them in the army.

There were ten such methods in all, collectively known as the Ten Directions Beast Art. They were the most widely circulated cultivation methods in the military of the Second Yanhan Empire.

"The Ten Directions Beast Art may not be the limit either... Entering the Dao through martial arts and breaking through the shackles of Xiantian may not be impossible."

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Zhong Shenxiu turned back to practice the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand.

Those Squad Leaders and even the logistics personnel all believed that it would already be remarkable if he could become vaguely familiar with the technique in just a few days.

What they did not know was that he truly intended to contend for the position of Company Commander.

It was not merely to raise his status, but also for... showing off!

With the martial knowledge from his previous life, practicing a mere external technique would not take him long.

With that in mind, Zhong Shenxiu opened the manual for the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand and began studying it closely.

This Probes the Clouds Hand contained nine major forms: Azure Dragon Emerges from Water, Cloud Dragon Extends Claw, Earth Dragon Turning Over, Fire Dragon Strikes Ground, Water Dragon Churns Waves, Golden Dragon Soars Skyward, Black Dragon Raises Wind, White Dragon Holds Corpse, and Dragon and Snake Frenzy!

Of these, Cloud Dragon Extends Claw, White Dragon Holds Corpse, and Dragon and Snake Frenzy were especially fierce, true killing moves.

To practice this grappling art, one needed to temper the bones throughout the body before being able to perform all manner of unimaginable movements and exert force where the enemy least expected it.

If one practiced incorrectly, one might well end up crippled.

The methods and secrets involved were not written in the manual. They were secret transmissions of military families and factions, and naturally no one came to instruct Zhong Shenxiu.

Yet relying on his own insight and experience, he forcibly broke through each obstacle one by one.

More importantly, Zhong Shenxiu stood at a different realm!

He was no longer a Houtian martial artist. He had already succeeded in Qi Refining and become a Xiantian expert!

Using Xiantian True Qi to command Houtian Martial Arts was naturally like looking down from a lofty height, effortless and sure-handed.

In just three short hours, he had learned all nine major forms. Only the tiniest bit remained before he could meld them into his own Martial Arts and use them flexibly in real combat.

When I contend for Company Commander next time, I can't exactly use the Martial Arts from my previous life. This Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand has arrived at precisely the right time...

As for Xiantian True Qi? Leaving aside whether that Battalion Commander has the eye to see through it, True Qi only circulates within the body. He isn't some Divine Immortal... Even if he did see through it, Su Daozhi is a member of the Su Family. Having one or two true Xiantian inheritances would be perfectly normal.

Having calculated all this, Zhong Shenxiu ended his practice and stood. He truly felt a faint anticipation for the coming competition.

My deepest thanks to Alliance Leader Quit LOL From Now On and the other fans for their rewards. My gratitude is beyond words; please allow me to make up the bonus chapter after the book goes premium...