Creating a Martial Art

The return journey was far faster than the trip there.

The two Body Tempering Realm martial hall disciples carried the corpses as lightly as if they were holding kettles of tea, their running speed utterly unaffected.

The six hurried onward, swiftly leaving the dim forest behind as the scorching sunlight fell upon them once more.

Martial artists were fast. In less than the time it took to burn two sticks of incense, they had returned to the village.

Wu Si'an did not even need to speak. The moment the villagers saw the two twisted, hideous human shapes in their hands, they already knew the outcome. The relatives and friends of the dead hunters burst into tears on the spot!

Chen Family Village was instantly steeped in grief. When Li Yuan saw Chen Song's daughter crying her heart out, she nearly fainted.

Before long, the bodies were cremated. Thin blue smoke slowly rose as the two corpses gradually turned to ash amid the flames.

Through the smoke, the villagers watched Li Yuan and the others ride away into the distance.

Although this trip had encountered a slight mishap, it had gone fairly smoothly. In less than half a day, the six disciples returned to Jiujiang Commandery City.

Upon arriving at the martial hall, Wu Si'an, who had led the group, reported the details of the mission to Qi Zhengyang. Since the problem had been resolved, Qi Zhengyang was quite satisfied. He reprimanded the injured disciple a few times, while offering Li Yuan, who had performed outstandingly, a round of praise.

Li Yuan always seemed able to bring him surprises. Qi Zhengyang was in high spirits as he smiled at the six people before him.

"You did well on this mission."

"Ordinary disciples may collect ten taels of silver each, while elite disciples may collect thirty taels."

There was payment for undertaking missions. Otherwise, no one would risk their lives for the martial hall.

Hearing that there was silver to collect, Li Yuan was delighted as well. He did not have much money left on him. The two hundred taels he had brought with him had long since been nearly spent, and now he finally had some income.

Once the matter was settled, everyone went their separate ways.

After returning to his residence, Li Yuan casually ate something, then began reflecting on the gains and losses of the trip.

In terms of destructive power, the Cinnabar Palm had not disappointed him.

He had fought several zombies alone without falling into a disadvantage. The Cinnabar Palm was powerful, and the force unleashed by Shocking Force had far exceeded his expectations.

Yet it was not without flaws. His speed was still too slow. When he rushed to support those martial hall disciples, he had been a beat too late, allowing Hu Guangting to be injured by a zombie.

Slow speed was a very serious problem!

The martial hall did not lack techniques for fists, palms, sabers, or swords, but it happened to have no methods of the lightness skill variety.

Li Yuan frowned deeply. He could not count on the martial hall, and for the moment, he had no other avenues either. He simply gritted his teeth.

Since there's nowhere to learn lightness skills... I'll just create one myself!

It was time to test the true worth of Divine Wisdom.

According to the system's description, Divine Wisdom had granted him martial wisdom that touched the divine, raising his comprehension to its current limit. With such conditions, there was no reason he could not create a martial art himself.

Having made up his mind, Li Yuan went to the courtyard and stood still, closing his eyes as he pondered how to create his own lightness skill.

Once he calmed his mind, all sorts of ideas swiftly surfaced. Some unworkable plans were immediately rejected, only for new lines of thought to emerge at once.

After weighing them over, Li Yuan quickly formed a mature concept.

As for how to develop a lightness skill movement technique, he had to begin with the Cinnabar Palm.

Li Yuan had noticed earlier that when he used the Cinnabar Palm against those zombies, the zombies were blasted flying like cannonballs when Shocking Force erupted!

Shocking Force was immensely powerful—powerful enough to send zombies flying!

Then... could it make him fly as well?

For instance, by using his legs and feet to unleash Shocking Force?

The moment that thought appeared in Li Yuan's mind, his eyes lit up. He was highly confident that this approach would work!

Since that was the case, Li Yuan immediately began trying.

He stood firmly in the courtyard, circulating Shocking Force through both feet. The instant his toes stamped the ground, Shocking Force exploded and blasted a small crater into the earth!

Propelled by the tremendous recoil, Li Yuan's body shot off to one side.

He had long been prepared. While still in midair, he adjusted his posture, twisted at the waist, and landed steadily on both feet.

Once he regained his footing, Li Yuan said eagerly, "This has potential! Again!"

He continued circulating Shocking Force through his feet. Because he was unfamiliar with using Shocking Force in this way, his direction and distance were wildly off at first, making it difficult to control.

Li Yuan was repeatedly sent flying by the recoil, while the sounds of Shocking Force exploding against the ground rang out again and again through the courtyard!

At this moment, the effects of the Divine Wisdom talent began to reveal themselves!

Every time Li Yuan unleashed Shocking Force, even when the recoil left him in a miserable state, he was able to draw experience from it and make constant adjustments.

The error in his movement direction grew smaller and smaller, while his grasp of distance became increasingly precise!

Through his continual attempts, the rudimentary form of Li Yuan's self-created lightness skill gradually improved. Little by little, he worked out countless crucial tricks on his own!

The path of martial arts prized adaptability!

If Shocking Force could be used in palm techniques, then it could certainly be applied to footwork as well!

Li Yuan's Cinnabar Palm had already reached perfection. His understanding and control of Shocking Force far surpassed that of ordinary people. Even compared to the senior who had created the Cinnabar Palm, Li Yuan was confident that he was no weaker in the art!

Moreover, Li Yuan was fundamentally a modern person. His mindset and horizons were far broader than those of most people in this world, and all manner of strange, ingenious ideas sprang forth without end!

If anyone could develop a lightness skill footwork technique from the foundation of the Cinnabar Palm, that person would undoubtedly be Li Yuan!

Time passed second by second, and Li Yuan's progress was visible to the naked eye. Shocking Force constantly exploded beneath his feet, while his rapidly moving figure became more and more composed!

After the time it took to burn several sticks of incense, Li Yuan's system panel changed as well.

Name: Li Yuan

Talent: Divine Wisdom

Realm: Mid Inner Force Realm

Martial Arts: Cinnabar Palm (Perfection), Shocking Step (Proficient)

"Shocking Step?"

Li Yuan noticed the newly appeared martial art as well and immediately examined it.

Shocking Step: Mid-grade martial art, a lightness skill footwork technique created by Li Yuan. It is a wondrous application of Shocking Force! Shocking Step excels at rapid movement over short distances!

The facts proved that Li Yuan's train of thought had been correct. Even the system recognized this lightness skill footwork technique!

After developing a new technique, Li Yuan did not stop. He continued practicing it, and the tremendous cultivation speed bonus brought by Divine Wisdom also became apparent.

Li Yuan performed Shocking Step again and again, and his mastery of the technique rose rapidly!

Proficient!

Mastered!

Minor Accomplishment!

Major Accomplishment!

Perfection!

In less than half an hour, Li Yuan had raised the technique to its peak. Once it reached perfection, the true power of this lightness skill footwork was completely revealed.

With a light tap of his toes upon the ground, faint cracks appeared in the stone bricks beneath him. After a soft crack like crushing a walnut, Li Yuan instantly appeared ten meters away!

Thanks to his perfect control of Shocking Force, Li Yuan could achieve the greatest speed and farthest distance with the least amount of strength!

Furthermore, Shocking Step caused far less commotion than before, making it much more discreet!

Having completely mastered a new lightness skill footwork technique, Li Yuan felt a burst of exhilaration. He could clearly sense that he had grown stronger.

As Li Yuan's strength increased, his reputation within the martial hall grew ever greater, even spreading beyond its walls. The other forces in Jiujiang Commandery City also began to take notice of Li Yuan's existence.

Everything was developing in a better direction.