A Brave Warrior Burns His Life to Shake Iron Bones, Gains a Manual and Discovers a Shared-Origin Technique

"Because the Tang Family's calamity was partly thanks to Kuang, I never intended to cling to life."

Kuang Jing's voice was calm. Relying on a single leg for strength, he straightened his body.

His other leg hung slightly in the air, cleverly concealing its mutilation. The aura around him actually gathered anew at that moment, as though he had returned to his prime.

It was only one lost leg. His inner force had not dissipated, and he still possessed the strength to fight.

Although Yun Zhi had pleaded for Kuang Jing, what he did not know was that Kuang Jing had deliberately come here to die.

When the Tang Family suffered its catastrophic disaster that day, he had happened to be away on business and narrowly escaped calamity.

Afterward, he could have fled far away and concealed his name, but he had not.

He had specifically sought out Miao Wu, only to wait for this moment and fulfill the final duty of a Tang Family retainer.

"Kuang was taken in by the Tang Family for over ten years, and the Patriarch's kindness to me was as heavy as a mountain. I could never repay such affection. Instead, I indirectly left disaster behind for the Tang Family. Only by burying this ruined life alongside them can I settle my debt.

"Yet one's body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents; one must not damage them without cause. Thus, Kuang begs Master Chen to fight me. With this ruined body, let me lay this lingering regret to rest!"

As his words fell, the aura around him surged abruptly. His sole remaining leg bent slightly, taking up an Opening Stance.

Miao Wu and several subordinates changed expression and moved to stop him, but Chen Duan raised a hand to halt them.

"Elder Brother Kuang! Why must you put yourself through this?" Yun Zhi was already weeping, his voice choked with sobs.

Seeing Yun Zhi's expression, Kuang Jing took a booklet from his robes and looked toward Chen Duan.

"I have heard that Master Chen gathers Martial Arts from across the world. Kuang is willing to offer the Secret Manual of the Moon Grasping Leg, the learning of my entire life. I ask only that Master Chen show mercy and spare my brother's life.

"Kuang has no family and is not worth mourning if he dies. But he still has a wife, children, and elders at home. He must not perish too soon."

"Elder Brother Kuang!"

Yun Zhi had never expected that at such a moment of life and death, Kuang Jing would still be thinking of securing a path to survival for him.

Chen Duan narrowed his eyes, his gaze lingering on Kuang Jing's face for a moment.

Then he suddenly threw back his head and laughed.

He recalled the wretched sight in Miao Mansion that day, when the Tang Family retainers had knelt and begged for mercy before scattering like startled birds and beasts.

"Hahaha! I never thought that in this world, where human hearts are ghostly domains, I would still encounter someone like Your Excellency.

"The Tang Family had Martial Masters as numerous as clouds, but there was only one Brave Warrior among them—you! Good! Chen shall fulfill your wish!"

Chen Duan waved a broad hand, signaling Miao Wu to take the Secret Manual. He himself rose to his feet as an imposing aura began to rise.

Though Yun Zhi was grief-stricken, he saw the resolve in Kuang Jing's eyes and could only withdraw with Miao Wu and the others, leaving the field open.

Kuang Jing clasped his fists toward Chen Duan. "My thanks to Master Chen for granting this."

He bore no grudge against Chen Duan.

At its root, this conflict had begun with the Tang Family members plotting and harming others first. It was nothing more than differing sides—victors became kings, losers became bandits.

"Kuang knows he is no match for Your Excellency. But this next move contains the power of Kuang's entire life! I ask Master Chen to favor me with instruction!"

"Why waste words? Come at me!"

Kuang Jing drew a deep breath. All the remaining inner force in his body flowed like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, pouring into his intact leg.

At the same time, the blood and vitality throughout his body seemed to ignite. His meridians bulged, even emitting a faint hum.

Invisibly, he gathered a "force" that could not be Underestimated, making the air around them thicken and stagnate.

Chen Duan's gaze sharpened.

He could clearly sense that Kuang Jing at this moment was utterly different from the man by Shuxin Lake.

That do-or-die aura faintly made him feel a trace of threat, along with an uncanny familiarity, as if it were...

The Killing Intent of the Fuhu Fist!

"Take this, Master Chen!"

Kuang Jing's body became a blurred streak of light. Man and leg became one, like a giant arrow fired from a Bed Crossbow, stabbing straight toward Chen Duan's center.

There were no flourishes, no Skill Change—only the ultimate strike forged from all his life, will, and power.

The sheer finality of that strike made Miao Wu and Yun Zhi, watching from the side, stop breathing in shock.

Chen Duan drove the inner force of the Fuhu Fist through his body and threw out his Right Fist to meet it head-on.

Fist and Foot collided violently.

A circular Air Wave exploded outward from the two of them. Dust flew everywhere, their garments snapping in the wind and their hair whipping wildly about.

After one move, all sounds fell silent.

Kuang Jing staggered back several steps. With every step he took, great mouthfuls of blood burst from his mouth!

Yet a gleeful smile rose at the corner of his lips. With his last strength, he raised a thumb toward Chen Duan.

"Good... good fist!"

As the words fell, his body went limp, and he toppled straight backward.

"Elder Brother Kuang!" Yun Zhi cried out and tried to rush forward.

But Chen Duan was faster. His body flashed, and he was already there, catching Kuang Jing's collapsing form.

The instant his fingers touched Kuang Jing's body, Chen Duan's brows rose.

Kuang Jing's head hung powerless, his breath completely gone.

After a brief examination, Chen found that every meridian in his body had shattered, his organs ruptured. His Right Leg in particular, the core from which he had exerted force, had become a strip of soft flesh, without the slightest trace of "bone."

He gently handed Kuang Jing's corpse to Yun Zhi.

Hugging that body, still warm, Yun Zhi was overwhelmed by grief.

He was merely a Commoner. Kuang Jing had saved his life, then introduced him to the Tang Family so he could make a living.

Now, seeing his benefactor die so nobly, how could his heart and guts not be torn asunder?

Chen Duan raised the Right Fist that had just exchanged blows.

Three of his finger Bones were bent and twisted at bizarre angles.

Even though he had trained the Fuhu Fist to the Fourth Level, the Bone Tempering realm, and his Bones were harder than refined steel, Kuang Jing's strike had still injured him.

There was no doubt that Kuang Jing had burned his life away to unleash a strike far beyond his own realm, forcibly injuring Chen Duan, a Fourth Level Master.

This shattered Chen Duan's prior Underestimation of the man.

"Good Moon Grasping Leg! Good Kuang Jing!"

He gripped the three twisted fingers and exerted force, wrenching them back.

After several crisp cracks, the finger Bones were forcibly reset, though some portions within had already shattered.

Once he returned, he could nourish them with Great Medicine of blood and vitality. With his powerful Power of Tissue Proliferation, restoring them completely would not be difficult.

Afterward, he kept his promise. He did not make things difficult for Yun Zhi, allowing him to leave with Kuang Jing's corpse.

Once everyone had gone, the courtyard returned to silence.

Chen Duan sat down alone.

His gaze fell on the Wooden Box at the side, which contained the genuine Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals seized from the Tang Family.

With his permission, Miao Wu had borrowed some of the Cultivation Techniques to copy duplicates, enriching the Miao Family's future Martial Arts foundation.

Among them were three complete Third Level Secret Manuals.

And, naturally, the Moon Grasping Leg that Kuang Jing had just handed over.

Chen Duan immediately took out the Moon Grasping Leg Secret Manual and carefully Flipped Through it.

Kuang Jing's final kick had given him a familiar feeling.

Opening the somewhat worn cover, he did not see the main text of the Cultivation Technique, but rather a page of fresh ink bearing a message.

"Years ago, Kuang encountered a fatal calamity. By fortune, a Drunken Monk saved me, and, refusing to abandon me, accepted me as a registered disciple and taught me this Moon Grasping Leg.

"My master instructed me to carry this skill forward and never let it gather dust. Yet Kuang Jing's talent is dull. I drifted through half a life in mediocrity, lived several decades in vain, and remained trapped at the Third Level, unable to advance another inch...

"...Kuang Jing is incapable and has failed my master's grace. I am also incapable of finding a successor for him. After Master Chen studies it, if you find this technique unworthy of cultivation and do not wish to practice it, I earnestly hope you can find a suitable inheritor for Kuang, so its flame may continue. If it cannot be done, then so be it. I ask only that it not fall into the marketplace and be sold cheaply."

The handwriting was somewhat messy, yet every stroke had been written with immense force.

After Chen Duan finished reading, he remained silent for a long while, his heart filled with boundless emotion.

The karmic threads of the world truly were wondrous and unfathomable.

No wonder the meaning within that final kick had felt familiar. The Moon Grasping Leg and the Fuhu Fist actually came from the same source.

"Drunken Monk, Bald Donkey..."

Though it was not stated outright who this person was, based on Qian Changchun's and Kuang Jing's descriptions, it was not difficult to infer that the master they spoke of was most likely the same person.

And the strongest evidence was the unique "intent" between these two Cultivation Techniques: springing from the same roots, yet moving toward entirely different extremes.

He quickly Flipped Through the rest. Sure enough, just as he had expected, the Moon Grasping Leg Secret Manual likewise recorded a complete Cultivation Technique from Entry Level all the way to the Fifth Level.

When he reached the final page, his movements paused slightly.

There was only one word on the entire page.

A single wild, unrestrained character that filled the page: "Absolute"!

"A Visualization Diagram?" Chen Duan frowned slightly.

If it was a Visualization Diagram, it was many times more abstract and crude than the Fuhu Fist Visualization Diagram. It looked exceedingly hasty, as though someone had simply dashed it off with a casual flourish.

He focused on it for a while but could not discern much mystery for the time being, so he put it away.

"The hidden mystery within likely requires training the Moon Grasping Leg to a certain level before one can glimpse the path in."

Afterward, he set aside these trivial matters, rose, and began preparing medicinal powder for a new round of cultivation.