Peeking

Pei Commandery, located in the central position of the seven major administrative divisions—province, prefecture, dao, commandery, county, town, and settlement—of the Crimson Cloud Empire, has had a fierce populace since ancient times. In this high summer, robust, muscular men can be seen everywhere.

Among this group of muscular old men, even Liu Yun and his son wouldn't stand out much; they could only be considered average.

"What's next?" At the entrance of the station, Liu Tian asked his father about their next move. "Walk over?"

But Liu Yun naturally wouldn't be unprepared. He replied, "I sent a telegram to your second uncle. They're coming to pick us up. We just need to wait a bit."

"Speaking of which, you're much more talkative this time back, son? Have you broken through?" Under the shade of the trees, which felt like a large greenhouse, the two chatted casually.

"I'm about to break through to Fighter," Liu Tian opened his status panel and found that with his unremitting efforts during this period, the accumulated Origin Points had inexplicably risen to 15 again. However, Fighter was indeed the last known realm. Even though he retained points equivalent to all the points spent before, he still couldn't see the familiar upgrade icon after Heavenly Martial Killing Dao. On the other hand, the upgrade and fusion options for Flowing Dragon Steps, which he had casually learned, were always present.

However, Liu Tian didn't plan to expand his combat aspects right now. Therefore, he decided to keep saving them, waiting for the day he would break through to Fighter through sheer effort before considering expansion.

According to the Heavenly Dao's description, the Fighter realm in Heavenly Martial Killing Dao was on a completely different level from the realms below it. If Liu Tian could now easily blast through a rural mud wall with one punch and take a small-caliber handgun shot to the face, then after breaking through to Fighter and further refining his physique, he would be able to withstand assault rifle fire at non-vital points without losing combat effectiveness and blast through tank armor with one punch while still having strength left.

Precisely because of this, Liu Tian saw no need to waste time on anything else before breaking through to Fighter—after all, there was no rule stating that one couldn't practice other martial arts after becoming a Fighter.

In fact, renowned Fighters often cultivated three or four martial arts simultaneously, and some had even broken through the Fighter realm with multiple martial arts.

The most obvious example was the Heavenly Dao. Ten years ago, five of his martial arts had broken through the Fighter realm. Now, after ten years of refinement, the Heavenly Dao had seven martial arts that had broken through the Fighter realm, far exceeding the average of two martial arts breaking through the limit for excellent Fighters.

After all, since ancient times, there was no number one in literature but a number two in martial arts. Without such overwhelming strength, how could the Heavenly Dao be recognized as the world's number one?

However, the first martial art to break through the limit was the easiest, and it was also the martial art that brought the greatest growth. Each subsequent martial art's breakthrough became more difficult, and even martial arts of the same level would provide less and less physical enhancement.

Even for a prodigy like the Heavenly Dao, before reaching the limit of life and death, it was impossible for him to have an even number of martial arts break through the limit. Otherwise, if martial arts could be infinitely stacked and physical qualities could grow indefinitely, there wouldn't be the sentiment that the era of martial artists had ended after the world war.

"You're about to break through to Martial Artist, not bad—wait, what did you say?" Liu Yun took a sip of water, preparing to encourage his beloved son, when he suddenly reacted, "Fighter? Not Martial Artist?"

"Martial Artist? I broke through that long ago," Liu Tian didn't find it surprising at all. Instead, he casually replied while pondering his future breakthrough direction, "Moreover, after breaking through to Martial Artist, I felt all the potential I had accumulated through past efforts erupt all at once. My martial arts progressed smoothly, and I've now reached the threshold of Fighter. I should be able to cross it with a little more effort."

"If I weren't about to break through to Fighter, would Master have allowed me to study the Lost Empire and neglect my training?"

"Fighter? A Fighter under eighteen? And with top-tier Secret Martial Arts like Heavenly Martial Killing Dao?" Liu Yun looked at his son as if for the first time. "If I hadn't personally carried you out of the delivery room, I would suspect you weren't my biological son."

"How come I never saw you were so talented before? You've been working hard recently..." Liu Yun instinctively wanted to hug his son to celebrate, but he gave up when Liu Tian clearly showed a look of disgust and took a step back. He could only repeat like a broken record, "Okay, okay, okay!"

"It's quite a bit of effort," Liu Tian replied, closing his status panel. "It took a lot of work, and I guess I'm a late bloomer—according to Master, my senior brother Bai Cinan broke through to Fighter at seventeen. I'm almost eighteen now..."

"Wait? Is someone watching us from the shadows?" As he spoke, a strange sensation surged from the depths of his mind. In an instant, Liu Tian was ready for battle.

The Martial Artist's keen intuition made Liu Tian realize that someone, someone with ill intentions, was observing the father and son amidst the crowd.

That strange feeling was very clear—it was Killing Intent!

If it weren't for the presence of Killing Intent, why would Heavenly Martial Killing Dao react automatically?

Damn it, I've been discovered! A tricky fellow...

The person secretly comparing the portrait was clearly no amateur. The moment Liu Tian's aura shifted, they understood they had been exposed. Without further hesitation, they immediately averted their gaze and, using the advantage of the crowd and their familiarity with the terrain, vanished into Pei Commandery.

"Son, what did you say?" Although Liu Yun felt a fear like being targeted by a vicious shark the moment Liu Tian's aura shifted, blood was thicker than water, and he wasn't the target. The experienced Liu Yun quickly reacted and asked.

"Dad, do you have any enemies in the Crimson Cloud Empire? Enemies who might want to kill you." Before he could lock onto the target, the sense of being spied on had already disappeared. Liu Tian didn't waste time searching and instead asked.

"How could that be? I left home and went to sea when I was sixteen. In the Crimson Cloud Empire, besides my relatives, very few people know me, so how could I have enemies?" Liu Yun replied instantly, then affirmed, "No, absolutely not. Are you sure you're not mistaken, son?"

"Mistaken?" Liu Tian shook his head. "If the heir of Heavenly Martial Killing Dao can't even distinguish killing intent, then what's the point of my training? Since it's not your enemy, then it must be an enemy of the Liu family."

A hundredth birthday celebration, seeking revenge, annihilating a whole family, leaving behind an orphan, and seeking revenge later—a standard wuxia novel opening...

But they have internal energy, can leap high and fly low, and there are no firearms or cannons. A group of physical powerhouses, where did they get the confidence to seek revenge in such a situation?

Aren't they afraid of failing and suffering losses? Losing the wife and sacrificing the soldiers?

"Do we really have to attend this hundredth birthday celebration?" Liu Tian's first thought was to run, but he immediately dismissed his own decision. "Forget it, Dad probably won't agree. I'll just raise my vigilance—there's a saying, 'A thief can be on guard for a thousand days, but a guard cannot be on guard for a thousand days.'"