In the largest library in the Hundred Flowers Kingdom, Liu Tian was quietly browsing books in a place everyone avoided.
After Liu Tian had swept his gaze over the group of people spying on him, causing quite a few whose essence, energy, and spirit were all deficient to collapse to the ground on the spot, things returned to normal. No one tried to spy on him in secret anymore.
Only, before, it had been because they ignored him. Now, it was because they feared him.
Heavenly Martial Killing Dao, the culmination of everything Tian Dao had achieved in his life. As Liu Tian's level continued to rise, it had truly begun to bare its fangs more and more—the fangs that could no longer be concealed.
Perhaps,
if Tian Dao hadn't been born in this weak world;
if this world had been governed by looser rules;
if more powerful people capable of touching the rules had appeared;
then perhaps Tian Dao wouldn't have been limited to this, transformed into a little goldfish that had bound itself. Instead, he might have been a great wave, a giant shark, or a god, devouring everything and ruling the world.
An instinctive fear kept everyone from approaching the man radiating a chilling aura. Within ten meters of Liu Tian, almost no one dared to come near.
But there were exceptions to everything. At this particular moment, even Alice was being held up by a friend and couldn't get away. A man he'd only recently gotten to know walked right up to him as if he hadn't heard the rumor that had just spread through the academy. "You made a name for yourself today."
"Did I?" Liu Tian replied coolly. He was busy worrying about how to keep himself under control—or how to find more Origin Points so he could break through to Martial Artist.
"You really don't care at all, do you?" Allen shrugged. "You don't care what they're saying about you?"
"This is only the beginning." Liu Tian didn't care in the slightest. "Three people can make a tiger. If there's smoke, there's fire. One day, they might even spread rumors that I'm a heartless, ruthless devil god."
"If they enjoy it, let them gossip in private. As long as they don't jump around in front of me, that's fine." Liu Tian's lips curled unconsciously. "I have a bit of a problem controlling myself right now. If clowns keep jumping around in front of me, I can't guarantee I'll be able to stop myself from cleaning them up."
He wasn't joking.
Sensing this keenly, Allen fell silent for a moment, then continued the conversation. "They're all children of nobles and rich people. With your terrible reputation, you might run into plenty of trouble down the road."
"Then that only proves my reputation isn't bad enough."
"If they're really afraid, if they're truly terrified, their instinct to survive will tell them what they should and shouldn't do."
"That answers the question you asked me last time. How's that? I'm pretty efficient, right?" As he spoke, Liu Tian tore off a sheet of paper and handed it to Allen. "This time, the price was lower than last time's antiques. Remember to bring good antiques next time. Small business, no credit."
"How do you switch topics so fast?"
Watching Liu Tian walk away, Allen blew on the paper and tucked it into his clothes. He too paid no attention to the looks of those around him, and sauntered out of the library.
What kind of question should I bring next time? That's a tough one, too...
There was no sudden visit from Bai Cinan at Tian Dao's house today. So, after their usual session of getting beaten by the senior had continued uninterrupted—even though Heavenly Martial Killing Dao's Heart Severing Path had evolved into Head Severing Path—Liu Tian sat on a stool, making tea as he asked about the things he'd been wondering about lately.
Unlike before, when he could fight Liu Tian without even turning red or breathing hard, Tian Dao had now begun to feel a little tired, even though he could still suppress Liu Tian in every way. Fine beads of sweat had appeared on his face. As he listened to Liu Tian recount what had happened, he sipped his tea to calm his mind.
"That fellow who called himself Mantis yesterday." Liu Tian first told him everything that had happened after they'd parted, then asked about the question that interested him most. "I was curious about the evolution he mentioned. Do you know what it is, Master?"
"Evolution. So they really succeeded." Tian Dao spoke slowly. "Come to think of it, Tian'er, you've reached this stage before I ever properly introduced you to the different paths of martial arts."
"I thought you wouldn't need to know about this, Tian'er. But now that you've come this far, it's time you learned about it."
"Different paths of martial arts?" Liu Tian was taken aback. "Isn't it just the division into beginner, Martial Artist, and Fighter? Are there other ranks?"
"Those are the ranks of Secret Martial Arts. Outside of Secret Martial Arts, there are also Heavenly Martial Arts, which have been passed down for thousands of years, and Demonic Martial Arts, introduced by Blue Dream Company less than twenty years ago. Practitioners of Demonic Martial Arts call the process of practicing them 'evolution.'"
"Secret Martial Arts? Heavenly Martial Arts? Demonic Martial Arts?"
"Secret Martial Arts are the martial arts we're practicing. They're divided into internal and external arts. Internal arts focus on hard training, aided by medicine. External arts rely equally on medicine and hard training; without the proper medicine, you can't even get started."
"But both internal and external arts can continually grow stronger and change your physical constitution. Ultimately, the body nurtures the spirit, the spirit nourishes the body, and essence, energy, and spirit become one."
"Secret Martial Arts progress one step at a time: from the beginner stage, to the Martial Artist stage, where you reach thought, force, and control, and then to the Fighter stage, where the body nourishes the spirit, essence, energy, and spirit become one, and battle patterns manifest."
"And among Secret Martial Arts, the culmination of my life's work, the pinnacle of internal arts, is Heavenly Martial Killing Dao."
"There is no other reason. If you really want one, it's because I was the world's number one for twenty years, and your senior brother Bai Cinan became the new world's number one after me."
"I see. So Master and Senior Brother are that strong?" This was the first time Liu Tian had learned just how powerful Tian Dao was. He had no doubt that Tian Dao, who always kept his word, wasn't exaggerating his strength. Still, having two consecutive generations of world's number ones in one school was proof enough of the value of Heavenly Martial Killing Dao.
"That's all in the past." After speaking at length, Tian Dao took a sip of tea before continuing. "As for Heavenly Martial Arts, they're also rooted in Secret Martial Arts, but they have one additional talent that Secret Martial Arts don't: a talent called telekinesis."
"No one knows where it comes from. Even the people who possess it don't understand it. Even if two people with this innate talent have children, there's no guarantee their descendants will inherit it. This gift seems to come from heaven, and that's why they call themselves Talented Individuals."
"The martial arts of Talented Individuals focus on telekinesis, with Secret Martial Arts as a supplement. Outsiders can hardly make sense of their power rankings, but based on my research, the strongest can influence an area a hundred meters around them and control nearly a hundred different objects at once. Their upper limit for an explosive burst of strength is around a ton. Although a Fighter's unified essence, energy, and spirit can resist them, their power can still penetrate the body and retain at least a tenth of its strength."
"In theory, even without knowing martial arts, a newly awakened Talented Individual could easily kill a renowned Fighter, provided they found the right opportunity to send their telekinesis into the enemy's body. That's why they have always looked down on Secret Martial Arts."
"Of course, Tian'er, you don't need to worry. Heavenly Martial Killing Dao is different from other Secret Martial Arts. Once you reach the Fighter stage, Aura will arise naturally. It's a trait found only in the very best Secret Martial Arts, and its greatest use is preventing telekinesis from penetrating your body."
"As for Demonic Martial Arts, they originated several decades ago, relying on unidentified equipment excavated from the Lost Empire. At first, they only involved transplanting organs and limbs to push beyond the limits of the human body, so they weren't considered a separate school."
"But ten years ago, during the World War, Blue Dream, the second-generation leader of Blue Dream Company, stood out by proposing the theory of genetics and launching the Gene Modification plan. Only then were Demonic Martial Arts officially established."
"The word 'demonic' means deviating from the right path. To practice Demonic Martial Arts, you have to fuse genes to acquire the traits of other living creatures: eagle claws and eyes, regrowing severed limbs, immense strength, a double layer of skin, and so on. Then, using the traits you've gained, you train in the corresponding Secret Martial Arts."
"Demonic Martial Arts practitioners call the process of acquiring the traits of other living creatures 'evolution.' And at the same stage, Demonic Martial Arts practitioners are clearly stronger than Secret Martial Arts practitioners. Those who have undergone particularly powerful modifications can even rival Fighters while still at the Martial Artist stage."
Isn't this fucking gene modification? That black technology excavated from the Lost Empire was seriously black. At this rate, would they suddenly come up with some kind of New Humanity plan?
Having read countless novels, Liu Tian naturally found Tian Dao's explanation easy to understand. Heavenly Martial Arts relied on heaven to grant them power, Demonic Martial Arts relied on technology, and Secret Martial Arts had it worst of all: they trained steadily and kept their feet on the ground, so they could never beat the other two.
After all, how could free-to-play players compare to pay-to-win players and cheaters?
Could Secret Martial Arts still survive like this?
Thinking of all the people forced to struggle away at Secret Martial Arts, Liu Tian couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
Why were pay-to-win players and cheaters picking on ordinary Secret Martial Arts practitioners like us? Oh, I'm a cheater too? Then never mind.
"If Demonic Martial Arts practitioners do that, won't they suffer side effects?" Liu Tian asked tentatively. "Aren't there things like genetic collapse in novels?"
"Cinan once told me that Blue Dream Company still hasn't researched this deeply enough. If you undergo Gene Modification only once, there won't be any particular side effects."
"But if you let greed get the better of you and keep trying to 'evolve,' you might naturally suffer a range of side effects, like losing your sanity or genetic conflict. Otherwise, why call it Demonic Martial Arts?"
"Demonic means deviating from the right path, taking an unorthodox route."
"Doesn't that mean that if you undergo Gene Modification just once, it's a way to get stronger without any side effects?" Liu Tian asked.
"That's what you'd think. But after experiencing how quickly you can grow stronger just by closing your eyes, how many people can control their desires? It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go the other way."
"Besides, Demonic Martial Arts emerged because Secret Martial Arts practitioners refused to be cast aside by history. They made a desperate attempt to counter ever more powerful firearms. The power they could gain from a single Gene Modification was nowhere near enough for them."
As if he'd thought of something, Tian Dao let out a sigh and dropped the subject. He stood, reached into a nearby drawer, and took out an object: a prism, a silver prism.
Before you continue