Transcendence

"Really?"

Zhang Dazhuang was somewhat skeptical, but out of trust in Li Musheng, he happily tucked it into his clothes and carefully put it away.

"The Yu Family Martial Arts School has now become a place of turmoil. Brother Zhang, it would be best for you to leave as soon as possible and seek another path, lest you be caught in the crossfire."

Li Musheng offered one more word of advice, then solemnly cupped his fists to Zhang Dazhuang.

"I was indebted to Brother Zhang for your care in the past. If fate permits, we shall meet again!"

With that, he did not linger in the slightest. Carrying his bundle, he turned and headed out of the martial arts school.

Seeing this, Zhang Dazhuang raised a hand as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out. He merely cupped his fists toward Li Musheng's departing back.

Times had changed. Li Musheng's martial arts were now profound; the tiny Shun'an City could no longer contain him. Besides, young people ought to roam the martial world while they were still young!

Zhang Dazhuang felt reluctant to part with him. In the entire martial arts school, only he and Li Musheng had been on good terms. Now that the other man was leaving, his heart felt strangely hollow.

But then another thought came to him, and he could not help sighing.

"That kid Ah Sheng hid himself deeply enough. So it turns out I was the only piece of trash in the whole martial arts school!"

After some thought, he took out the stack of rough paper Li Musheng had given him.

"I hope this Indestructible Vajra Art is useful. I hope I can make something of it."

Then, in the next instant, his expression changed. His eyes widened as he stared at the middle of those sheets of paper.

There, lying quietly, was a one-hundred-tael banknote!

The Scum River Seven Bandits had all been rooted out, and the Yu Family's crisis had been resolved today.

Li Musheng and Yu Zhentian were now even, and whatever happened afterward had nothing to do with him.

In truth, Li Musheng was not from this world. When this body had been five years old, he had accidentally transmigrated into it.

At the time, Yu Zhentian had taken him in, and he had become an apprentice at the martial arts school.

Though he had been made to do dirty, exhausting work in the school from a young age, at least he had not ended up on the streets, freezing or starving to death. He had found a place to live in peace.

Moreover, all the martial cultivation he possessed today had begun at this very martial arts school.

The original owner of this body truly had possessed abysmal talent and aptitude. He had also been left with lingering illness, weak and sickly by nature, which was why he had died of a severe cold at the age of five.

Yet after Li Musheng transmigrated into this body, everything changed beyond recognition.

Although Li Musheng came from Blue Star, where the technology tree had been fully unlocked, he discovered that on the path of martial arts, he possessed a terrifying comprehension that defied the heavens.

He never forgot anything he saw. Every martial art taught by the school could be learned after he had looked at it just once.

Though his innate physique and aptitude remained poor, with that heaven-defying comprehension, he could still quickly master them to the level of great completion and perfection.

Back then, Li Musheng had taken less than a few days to completely master every martial art in the school.

Naturally, with such terrifying comprehension, he was not content with the crude, shallow martial arts taught by the school.

Yet Li Musheng lacked the means to obtain more powerful martial arts manuals.

So on a whim, he decided to begin deducing from the most basic martial arts, intending to create more formidable arts of his own.

And in the end, he truly succeeded, without encountering much difficulty in the process.

For example, from the Five-Step Fist taught by the school, he had deduced the Five Absolutes Heaven-Piercing Divine Fist.

This fist art was extraordinarily domineering. When cultivated to the extreme, a single punch could seal the heavens and cut off the earth, its power horrifying!

For another example, he had intensely studied the ordinary Double-Rising Snap-Kick Technique, thereby comprehending Shadowless Divine Movement.

Of course, though the snap-kick technique was an offensive martial art, Li Musheng had opened another path entirely and derived from it a supreme movement art, soaring through clouds and treading upon the void, formless and shadowless!

The Indestructible Vajra Art he had given Zhang Dazhuang earlier had naturally also been created by Li Musheng.

However, he had altered that martial art according to Zhang Dazhuang's particular circumstances. Its final version was actually called the Indestructible Golden Body.

It was only because Zhang Dazhuang did not possess Li Musheng's terrifying comprehension and could not learn that divine art that he had made some revisions and cuts.

It was precisely by relying on this heaven-defying comprehension that Li Musheng had no need to seek out any top-tier cultivation methods or divine martial arts manuals, nor did he need to consume peerless pills to raise his cultivation.

All he had needed was to cultivate in seclusion at a martial arts school in the small city of Shun'an, ignoring worldly affairs, and he could continuously increase his strength.

And after fifteen years, through day after day of cultivation, Li Musheng had reached the peak of the martial path.

Then one day, when he habitually sought to continue cultivating, he discovered that all cultivation had ceased to have any effect.

He had reached a point on the martial path where there was nowhere further to advance.

Yet Li Musheng had learned from certain ancient texts that his current martial strength was not truly the ultimate limit. Beyond martial arts lay the realm of Transcendence.

Though the realm of Transcendence was illusory and ethereal, existing only in legends, and though no one had ever truly set foot in it over the past thousand years, Li Musheng still decided to give it a try.

After all, he possessed heaven-defying comprehension that ordinary people did not, and he was still so young. To muddle through life and wait for death like this simply was not in his nature.

What had happened at the Yu Family Martial Arts School today was merely an opportunity. He had long wanted to leave the school, wander the martial world, and seek the realm of Transcendence.

And through this matter, he had helped the Yu Family today, repaying the debt of gratitude between them in full.

Li Musheng let out a soft breath, then lightly leaped into the air and landed atop Shun'an City's wall.

He gazed into the distance at mountains rising layer upon layer, stretching toward the endless horizon, and gave himself a stretch.

"I haven't stepped half a pace outside this city in fifteen years. From now on, perhaps I can take in the different customs and sights of this world along the way. It may have its own unique charm."

Li Musheng stood atop the city wall for quite some time, bidding farewell to the past fifteen years.

From this day onward, he would roam to the ends of the earth. Transcendence on the martial path was something to look forward to!

Not long afterward, Li Musheng withdrew his gaze.

However, he did not leave. Instead, he turned his head and looked toward a spot beneath the city wall.

"You've followed me for so long. Isn't it time you showed yourself and said hello?"

That spot lay within the shadows cast by a cluster of trees, where the light was dim. Other than the occasional sound of wind, there was no movement whatsoever.

But after a moment, a figure emerged from those shadows, appearing soundlessly beneath the city wall.

It was a woman dressed in plain blue-gray fitted attire. She was slender, and a veil covered her face, concealing her true features.

She raised her head and watched Li Musheng atop the wall. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

"When did you discover me?"

Li Musheng folded his arms, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Curling his fingers, he counted and said,

"By my reckoning, you've been following me for five days. I discovered you from the very first day; I simply never said anything."

At those words, the woman beneath the wall narrowed her beautiful phoenix eyes, but she did not speak.

Li Musheng did not mind. He merely examined her and said,

"I can't sense any killing intent from you, yet you've kept clinging to me like a stubborn burr..."

As he spoke, he stroked his chin and smiled.

"Could it be that you've taken a liking to me, miss? Is that why you've pursued me so relentlessly?"