"Who are you?" Shi Feizhe warily watched the burly man before him.
From his experience working at a medical clinic, he could tell the man was a martial artist with abundant qi and blood. He bandaged men like him by the dozen every day; he wouldn't mistake one for another.
"Kid, you're actually practicing the 'True Origin Sword Finger Technique'?" The burly man didn't answer Shi Feizhe's question. Instead, he asked mockingly.
"What about it?" Shi Feizhe asked, bewildered. He didn't know whether the man before him was friend or foe.
"Hahaha! I'm dying! Someone's actually practicing the 'True Origin Sword Finger Technique'!" Hearing Shi Feizhe's answer, the burly man couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Do you know... cough, cough..." The man laughed so hard he started coughing.
"What's so funny?" Seeing how arrogantly the man laughed, Shi Feizhe couldn't help saying something.
"Fine! Lord Liu's in a good mood, so I'll let you die with your eyes open!" said Liu San, who called himself Lord Liu. "You young people are always so impractical."
"Internal energy and true qi aren't that easy to cultivate! When the blood is full, qi flourishes; when qi flourishes, essence overflows; when essence overflows, the spirit thrives; and when the spirit thrives, the truth is revealed! Without abundant essence, qi, and spirit, where would your inner power and true qi come from?"
"If any old body could cultivate inner power, what would be the point of us tempering our blood, qi, and bones every day?"
"Only a robust physique can cultivate true qi! A skinny sapling like you thinks you're fit to practice inner power?"
"In the decades since the 'True Origin Sword Finger Technique' appeared in the martial world, there've been at least eight hundred copies, if not a thousand, and no one's ever managed to master it!"
"Hahaha, I'm dying! Someone's actually practicing this!" Liu San couldn't help laughing as he spoke.
He thought coming to kill this Little Devil was simply too much fun. Once he'd killed him, he'd tell the people in the gang about this kid. It would surely be the funniest story they'd heard in months!
That would make his reputation as "Funny Laosan" even greater.
The information in Liu San's few remarks was so overwhelming that Shi Feizhe's head spun.
What did "die with your eyes open" mean? What about "only a robust physique can cultivate true qi"? And "no one had ever mastered the 'True Origin Sword Finger Technique' in decades"?
No wonder there had been a copy of the "True Origin Sword Finger Technique" in the corpse's arms. It turned out to be a worthless technique nobody wanted.
Then what was the true qi he'd just cultivated?
Seeing Shi Feizhe standing there dumbfounded, Liu San thought this mission was turning out to be quite interesting.
"Kid, you were the one who changed my big brother's medicine today, weren't you?" he asked.
"Which one's your big brother?" Shi Feizhe asked, looking utterly confused. Over the past few days, the number of patients with saber wounds and internal injuries had suddenly increased. He honestly couldn't remember whose medicine he'd changed.
"No matter! Take your head to meet my big brother, and you'll recognize each other soon enough! Hahaha!" Liu San roared with laughter as he charged at Shi Feizhe, raising his hand and striking him in the chest with his palm.
Shi Feizhe hastily crossed his arms over his chest to block the blow, but how could he stop a burly man like Liu San?
He felt as if he'd been hit by a bull. His body flew backward of its own accord, and he couldn't feel either of his forearms.
Then someone slammed a hand down on his head. Shi Feizhe's mind went "buzz," his vision blackened, and the world spun. His consciousness blurred until he couldn't tell east from west. He didn't even notice the blood flowing from his nose and mouth!
"Hm? Kid, you're pretty tough!" Lord Liu lifted Shi Feizhe by the neck. Feeling a pulse in it, he knew the kid wasn't dead.
Those two blows of his would have killed even a strong man. He hadn't expected this kid to take them.
"Wh... why..." Shi Feizhe said, his consciousness hazy.
He didn't know why—why someone had suddenly come to kill him! He hadn't offended anyone!
"You made our big brother unhappy. You deserve to die!" Lord Liu said with a cold laugh.
Normally, his big brother wouldn't have been so petty.
But lately, the Four Directions Gang had been facing a joint attack from two other gangs, and they'd lost the backing of their patron. The gang was under enormous pressure just to survive. His big brother had even been wounded, and was in an especially foul mood.
His big brother hadn't said anything, but Liu San had understood what he wanted. He planned to kill Shi Feizhe, a helper at the medical clinic, to make his big brother feel a little better.
Shi Feizhe wanted to ask which man was his big brother, but he felt there was no point anymore.
All he could feel now was anger. Over such a tiny, tiny matter, someone had come to kill him!
This goddamn world!
But he knew that over the past two months, people in the city had been killing each other left and right. What was the point of asking why?
He didn't want to die. He'd already died once!
He still didn't want to die!!!
"Kid! Die!" Liu San's right hand tightened around Shi Feizhe's throat, ready to squeeze, when he saw Shi Feizhe shakily raise his right hand.
"Hm?" Liu San was baffled. What was this kid doing?
Shi Feizhe bit down hard on his tongue to clear his head and forced his eyes open a little. He saw that his right ring finger was pointed at Lord Liu's throat.
His arm was naturally nowhere near as long as Liu San's. His fingertip was still half a foot from Liu San's throat!
Then the wisp of true qi in his body set out from his Dantian, traveled up to "Chengjiang," then turned into his right arm at "Jianliao," sinking all the way down to "Guanchong" on his ring finger!
This was the "Hand Shaoyang Triple Burner" meridian!
It was also the path taken by "True Qi Sword"!
A faint, invisible sword qi shot from the ring finger of Shi Feizhe's right hand. Then Shi Feizhe fell unconscious.
Whatever happened next was up to fate!
Liu San watched in disbelief as a faint, illusory sword qi shot from Shi Feizhe's ring finger and pierced his throat.
The blood pressure inside his body sent a stream of blood spraying from his throat, splattering over Shi Feizhe.
He could no longer spare a thought for Shi Feizhe. He tried to cover the hole in his throat with both hands, only to find himself struggling to breathe. Blood had already seeped into his lungs.
His strength ebbed away little by little. He couldn't believe he'd capsized here. The boy was clearly so frail—how could he still have a wisp of sword qi?
Could it be because of that copy of the "True Origin Sword Finger Technique"?
That was impossible! The kid was so skinny—how could he have cultivated true qi?
He couldn't figure it out.
And so, he died.
Minute after minute passed. Only when the eastern sky began to brighten did Shi Feizhe finally stir awake.
Only then did he realize he'd actually survived.
He staggered to his feet, feeling pain all over. His head hurt, his arms and chest hurt, and even the meridians inside his body hurt!
His nose and mouth were full of dried blood. He spat a few times before his throat felt a little better.
Not far away lay Liu San's corpse.
"Heh... hehehe..." Shi Feizhe let out a strange laugh. He wasn't afraid of corpses. In the past two months, he'd seen far too many on the streets of Yi Yang City and at the medical clinic.
He looked at the corpse as if it were a pig or a dog.
First, he tossed Liu San aside, picked up the "True Origin Sword Finger Technique," and tucked it into his clothes. Then he went to the kitchen, washed his face, rinsed some rice, and cooked a meal.
He'd eaten at the medical clinic yesterday at noon, and by now he'd gone almost a full day without food.
Whatever he did next, he needed to eat his fill!
Only a full stomach gave him the strength to add to his collection! The strange and absurd high-martial world had begun!
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