Heavenly Martial Killing Dao

In the living room, Tian Dao sat across from Liu Tian. Between them rested a purple clay teapot with an ancient charm, while two steaming cups of tea gave off a faint, refreshing fragrance.

Just from the scent alone, one could tell it was exceptionally valuable. This tea was produced only on Cloud Mist Mountain in the Crimson Cloud Empire, and the finest Cloud Mist Tea grew solely upon cliffs deep within the clouds.

Clearly, though Tian Dao appeared to have abandoned his ambitions, he still placed considerable importance on his own food, clothing, and living conditions.

"Your tea-making skills have improved again, Tian'er." Tian Dao took a sip. "Far faster than your progress in martial arts."

"Master, yesterday afternoon, before the thunderstorm, I killed two armed criminals conducting a deal in South City Park in self-defense. To avoid being discovered, I threw them into the sewers." Liu Tian spoke openly and without concealment, concise and direct. He then pulled the Prism Pillar from his sock and placed it on the table. No one knew what it was made of, but once freed from pressure, it immediately returned to its original shape. It had been stuffed inside a sock for nearly a day without picking up the slightest odor. "Also, I found this on their bodies."

"It seemed to be the item they were trading. It looked valuable, and I thought that since I'd acted, I shouldn't leave empty-handed."

Though he had long decided to let things take their course, Tian Dao still did not know what to say when he saw how calm Liu Tian looked.

Liu Tian was unlike Bai Cinan, who had seen corpses from an early age. He had always been doted on by his parents and had never suffered any real setbacks. From childhood to adulthood, the most blood he had seen had been fish blood of all kinds. Yet he was so calm after killing someone with his own hands.

Could it be that the Heavenly Martial Fist I modified from the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao has not completely removed the influence of the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao? Of course. It was, after all, a fist technique born from the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao. How could it possibly be completely unaffected? Perhaps I should create a Secret Martial Arts entirely unrelated to the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao...

Thoughts raced through Tian Dao's mind, and he felt somewhat fortunate that he had not taught the Heavenly Martial Fist to a second person.

Ever since the end of the First World War twenty years ago, the disheartened Tian Dao had no longer wanted power, bloodshed, or life and death. If his own mistakes led people who should never have set foot on this path onto this road of death, even Tian Dao would feel a trace of unease.

Only...

Tian Dao lowered his head slightly and looked down at Liu Tian's blood-red eyes. His thoughts drifted back to ten years ago, when the still-young Liu Tian had clung to him and begged to become his disciple, asking him a question.

"Why do you want to practice martial arts?"

"I want to become stronger. I want to see all the scenery in the world!"

Perhaps, even without the Heavenly Martial Fist, Tian'er would have eventually taken this path.

With that thought, Tian Dao came back to himself. He glanced at the somewhat familiar Prism Pillar before him, yet could not remember where he had seen something like it. "This should have come from the Lost Empire. I seem to have seen something similar somewhere before. Though I can't be certain, it should be quite valuable. Tian'er, do you intend to sell it?"

"No, Master." Liu Tian shook his head. "I want to ask where I can find more things like this."

"?" Tian Dao was a little puzzled. "What do you need these things for?"

"I don't know why, but I feel that keeping it close to my body can speed up my martial arts training." Liu Tian said, "Oh, right, Master. I've already broken through the Martial Artist stage."

"Have you? It was about time." Tian Dao picked up the Prism Pillar, then put it back down, his expression calm. "Since you think it can speed up your martial arts training, keep it for yourself. Don't lose it. I'll keep an eye out for similar items."

"But I have another question." Tian Dao's expression turned solemn. "Have you truly decided to set foot on this path?"

"Yes." Liu Tian replied, "I want to see higher, broader scenery."

An indescribable silence lingered. Tian Dao gazed deeply at Liu Tian before him and realized that, without his noticing, the little boy who had once followed at his feet had grown tall and strong—grown to the point where he could decide his own future.

Just like Cinan!

"So be it. Perhaps this is fate." Tian Dao sighed, downing the tea that had unknowingly gone cold. "Since you have set foot on this path, don't turn back. Don't regret it. Keep walking forward!"

"Come with me. I will teach you fist techniques anew."

"I will teach you the fist technique I am most proud of in my life—Heavenly Martial Killing Dao!"

The training room!

This was a space Tian Dao had specially cleared out. Its floor was paved entirely with bluestone slabs, many of which bore deep footprints embedded into the stone as though they had always been part of it.

These had not been made by deliberately stomping down with force, but were marks slowly worn in day after day, year after year.

If someone possessed sufficient talent and attained a high enough martial arts realm, they might be able to piece together a peerless cultivation art from the various traces scattered throughout the room.

A peerless cultivation art known as the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao.

"By now, I imagine you have also discovered the unfinished meaning within the Heavenly Martial Fist." Tian Dao slowly practiced his fist techniques to warm up as he spoke to Liu Tian.

"Yes." Liu Tian likewise slowly practiced the exact same Heavenly Martial Fist, no different from Tian Dao's, as he replied, "Ever since I began training in the Heavenly Martial Fist, whenever I exercise, I always feel as though something remains unfinished. An urge to strike something down."

"You've always felt it?" Tian Dao froze for a moment, but his movements did not slow in the slightest. Instead, they gradually quickened. "Then it seems your talent is even greater than I estimated."

Though Tian Dao had mocked himself for failing to completely remove the shadow of the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao, he was, after all, the strongest fighter of this era. The Heavenly Martial Fist he had extracted from the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao still retained a trace of its shadow, but only a very faint one.

Yet Liu Tian had been able to sense that vague, indistinct phantom ever since he began cultivating. His talent could not possibly be merely ordinary. At the very least, he was a noteworthy genius.

"The Heavenly Martial Fist is a fist technique I streamlined from the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao." As Tian Dao unleashed the final move of the Heavenly Martial Fist, If I Were Emperor, he began practicing the Heavenly Martial Fist again. Yet compared to before, though the changes were minimal, his fist technique now possessed an indescribable flavor.

A flavor that made one's blood boil.

"Compared to the Heavenly Martial Fist, the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao places greater emphasis on the heart." Tian Dao calmly performed move after move, ensuring that Liu Tian, who followed beside him, could keep pace. "To unleash the true power of the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao—your fists must be fast, and your heart must be ruthless!"

"Cast aside excessive deliberation. Cast aside excessive doubts."

"Focus wholeheartedly upon your fists. Think wholeheartedly of striking down your enemy."

"If you can abandon everything, if you can immerse yourself completely in the pleasure of striking down your enemy."

"Then you will be the strongest person in the world!"

"Now, disciple!" Tian Dao's usually kind expression, unchanged for the past ten years, suddenly twisted into a savage grin. Then an aura erupted from his body—an aura of ferocity, madness, power, and dominance. "Feel this Heavenly Martial Killing Dao properly with your body, damn it! Feel your master's strongest fist technique!"

"In this world, there is absolutely no faster way to learn the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao!"