Outside the ruined temple, a streak of red light drew near.
Ye Kang carried his saber and emerged from the darkness. In the faint lamplight, a face wearing a mocking smile gradually came into Fan Shanyue's view.
"You sure know how to go in circles. I nearly let you slip away."
Ye Kang sounded relaxed, as if catching up to Fan Shanyue had taken only a little effort.
Fan Shanyue's face, however, was filled with terror.
"No... That's impossible... How could you possibly catch up to me? I clearly erased every trace. There's no way you could've caught up with my Lightness Skill..."
"Don't speak in such absolutes. When it comes to traveling, your Lightness Skill is nowhere near Miss Dai's. If she had your strength, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to catch up."
At his words, Fan Shanyue's expression twisted in an instant.
"That bitch! She gave you her Lightness Skill!"
Ye Kang shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I asked, but she wouldn't give it to me. Still, she told me your Lightness Skill was quite good, so here I am."
Fan Shanyue suddenly understood.
"So that's why you bastard left the water bandits alone and came after me instead! That bitch was the one who ratted me out! I should've ground her bones to dust long ago!"
Fan Shanyue cursed furiously. He wanted to run, but he no longer had even a trace of strength left.
Knowing he couldn't escape this calamity, he suddenly formed a palm with one hand and struck hard at his waist.
Whoosh!
A Hundred Flowers Sword Qi pierced his head. This time, he failed to dodge. His eyeballs burst, his head lolled to the side, and he died.
[Ding] [Host has completed the mission: Kill the Flower Thief. Reward: 8,000 Comprehension]
Ye Kang walked over and felt around Fan Shanyue's waist.
"Strange. Why isn't there anything here? Wasn't he just trying to destroy a manual?"
[Ding] [Incomplete ancient treasure detected. Inject True Qi to use]
"An ancient treasure? What's that!"
Ye Kang was slightly surprised. Since even the system had issued a notification, it had to be something good.
He tore open the clothes around the corpse's waist and saw half a dark green jade pendant hanging from the belt.
Ye Kang held his breath, removed the pendant, and tried injecting it with True Qi.
Whoosh!
Ye Kang felt himself enter a wondrous little space. He stood on a jade platform about the size of half a basketball court, with a few scattered objects and gold and silver lying on it.
In a flash, he was back in the ruined temple, his expression indescribable.
"Holy crap! Isn't this the kind of Storage Magic Treasure you only find in fantasy novels? Aren't I in a martial arts world?"
Ye Kang felt as if his mind had been blown. His entire worldview had been challenged.
He hurriedly sat down and used his Wood Element True Qi to calm his shaken heart.
"Looks like I know far less about the world I'm in than I thought."
After steadying himself, Ye Kang focused again and injected True Qi, carefully exploring the space.
An invisible Energy Wall surrounded the space on all sides, impossible to penetrate.
Its height was roughly that of an ordinary room, and he couldn't go any higher.
Strangest of all, the space directly in front of the jade platform wasn't an Energy Wall but a void that his True Qi couldn't reach at all.
The jade platform there looked as though something had shattered it, leaving its edge jagged and uneven.
"That must be the missing part of the pendant. When whole, its space must have been at least the size of a basketball court. Even with only half left, it's still an extraordinary treasure."
Ye Kang was overjoyed and immediately inspected Fan Shanyue's belongings.
There wasn't much gold or silver. It seemed the fellow only liked women and couldn't care less about material things.
What interested Ye Kang most were two manuals.
One was titled Shadow-Piercing Steps. It was undoubtedly the strange Lightness Skill Fan Shanyue had used—or, more accurately, a footwork technique.
The other was titled Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body. He couldn't tell what it was.
Fortunately, he had the system. Ye Kang took out both manuals and activated the Quantum Fluctuation Speed Reading Method, flipping through them in a few seconds.
[Ding] [Innate footwork Shadow-Piercing Steps recorded. 5,000 Comprehension required to reach the entry level] [Innate Martial Arts Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body recorded. 3,000 Comprehension required to reach the entry level] [Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body: Condense phantom spirit butterflies and infuse them with True Qi to change your appearance, creating an indistinguishable illusion]
Ye Kang read the descriptions of both martial arts and felt delighted.
So Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body was the technique Fan Shanyue had used to disguise himself. Ye Kang had thought he relied on makeup, but it turned out there was a dedicated martial art for it.
He had just been rewarded with 8,000 Comprehension. There was no need to hesitate—he'd learn the footwork first.
[Ding] [Host has spent 5,000 Comprehension. Shadow-Piercing Steps reached the entry level]
At the same moment, Ye Kang closed his eyes slightly as countless insights formed in his mind.
Picked up by his Master as a child, he had spent every day in a dark cave, comprehending the mysteries of the void. With bats for companions and cave fish for friends, he had passed through walls and burrowed underground. After twenty years, he had finally learned to tread on empty air, shift his body and change his shadow. Everything his eyes could see became a coordinate in the Bagua Nine Palaces, and he could arrive in an instant.
Ye Kang opened his eyes. With a single thought, the surrounding space became a series of coordinates formed by the Nine Palaces Bagua.
He circulated his True Qi, and his figure abruptly turned into black smoke. The next moment, he appeared atop a mound of dirt ten paces away.
After trying it a few more times, Ye Kang's True Qi quickly dwindled.
He couldn't help but look ecstatic.
"What an incredible technique! No, just like I suspected, this isn't ordinary martial arts at all. It's a far more mysterious kind of martial art!"
Ye Kang couldn't understand the mysteries behind teleporting and traversing space, but it didn't matter. All he needed to know was how powerful this footwork would be in actual combat.
Afterward, he also reached the entry level in Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body.
This martial art was much easier. Even in his insights, Ye Kang needed only ten years to master the basics, yet its applications were limitless.
He pointed a finger, and a Charm Blue spirit butterfly made of True Qi sprang from his fingertip.
With enough time, he could trace someone's appearance in the butterfly. After that, he could transform into that person whenever he wanted.
Unfortunately, at the entry level he could condense only one spirit butterfly. Once he reached Great Perfection, he would be able to condense nine. The name Thousand Illusions Body was a bit of an exaggeration.
Of course, although the footwork and disguise technique were practical, they did little to improve his cultivation realm.
Ye Kang contentedly hung the Ink Jade Fragmented Pendant from his belt. Then he swung his saber, took Fan Shanyue's head, and wrapped it in a piece of rag. He set fire to the rest of the corpse before finally leaving.
He wanted the manuals, the treasure, and the credit for killing the Flower Thief.
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