Heart Severing Path

Liu Tian shuddered in alarm. Before he could even process what had happened, Tian Dao's swift, urgent fist had already reached his face.

Boom!

Unable to mount even the slightest defense, the powerful force spread from his face through his entire body, brutally sending his 1.8-meter, 100-kilogram frame flying.

"Damn it!" Warm liquid flowed from his nose. Liu Tian climbed up from the ground and lightly wiped it with his arm, leaving a bright red streak across his bronze skin.

He had never expected that his first injury since crossing over would be from his master Tian Dao beating him up.

"Master, couldn't you at least give me a warning before hitting me?"

Though the aura around Tian Dao had yet to fade, since he had not been killed in a single blow, Liu Tian knew Tian Dao had no intention of killing him. As Tian Dao had said before, he simply wanted Liu Tian to face this Heavenly Martial Killing Dao with his body and learn it as quickly as possible.

This was Liu Tian's first time seeing Tian Dao in such a state.

Such a powerful, domineering Tian Dao.

Even when he had learned the Heavenly Martial Fist through memories in the past, Tian Dao had never displayed this side of himself. At most, he would say nothing and return the next day.

Ever since the battle markings on Tian Dao's face had vanished eight years ago, however, he had become incomparably patient and meticulous. A smile was often on his face, and when guiding his disciples, he never cared how many times they failed or how slowly they improved.

That was also the greatest reason Liu Tian, with merely above-average talent, had been able to practice the Heavenly Martial Fist to such a degree.

The Heavenly Martial Fist combined the strengths of countless schools. Without Tian Dao, its creator, personally teaching him hand in hand with such incomparable patience and care, how could Liu Tian, with his far-from-outstanding talent, have mastered it before turning eighteen and come within a hair's breadth of becoming a martial artist, no matter how hard he worked?

After all, working ten times harder was still within the limits of an ordinary person. With Liu Tian's talent, to achieve such accomplishments at his age, aside from cheats and fortuitous encounters, he could only risk his life—while having sufficient resources to support that risk.

"Would an enemy wait for you to prepare?" At the side, Tian Dao struggled to maintain the ferocity, madness, power, and dominance he had dredged up from his memories, ensuring that the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao he taught did not deviate. Yet even so, he did not forget to instruct him. "Abandon your hesitation. Abandon your thoughts. I will only use strength below yours."

"Fight with everything you have! Fight! Fight!"

"Use your whole body and soul to face the First Path of my Heavenly Martial Killing Dao—Heart Severing Path!"

At the very instant Tian Dao spoke, Liu Tian seized the opportunity. Just as Tian Dao had said, without hesitation or delay, he went all out from the start, unleashing the Heavenly Martial Fist's strongest killing move with all his heart and soul—the Heavenly Martial Great Shark Fist!

With the ability of a martial artist to mobilize the strength of his entire body in an instant, only an incomparably brief burst of acceleration was needed for the Heavenly Martial Great Shark Fist to reach its peak.

Ever since he had begun killing, and Tian Dao had told him that the Heavenly Martial Fist needed Killing Intent and Dominating Thought to drive it forward, Liu Tian had incorporated Killing Intent into it as well.

Since his breakthrough, Liu Tian had not yet had the time to train and further strengthen his physique, which could still continue growing. Thus, the power he could theoretically unleash was only slightly greater than before his breakthrough. Yet when Liu Tian fused Killing Intent into the attack, the Heavenly Martial Great Shark Fist, which he had thought had already reached its limit, surged with another massive increase in power.

And Liu Tian came to a realization: even with equal strength and equal speed, a Heavenly Martial Great Shark Fist possessing "spirit" could suppress one without "spirit."

And with Killing Intent, he could fight two, even three versions of himself without Killing Intent.

Faced with such powerful strength, and with Liu Tian silently launching a surprise attack after seizing the opportunity, how could Tian Dao respond when he had declared he would only use strength below Liu Tian's and even had to control himself to avoid causing excessive injury?

Could Tian Dao, with his hands and feet bound, deal with such a powerful strike?

Of course he could! Easily!

At the instant Liu Tian's fist force reached its end and could no longer change direction, Tian Dao shifted aside as if he had anticipated it all along. He was not especially fast, yet he moved at precisely the right moment to avoid Liu Tian's powerless fist. Then—

Sever!

Heavenly Martial Killing Dao First Path: Heart Severing Path.

Facing Liu Tian, whose defenses were completely exposed, Tian Dao drove a vicious left fist straight into the most crucial point where he exerted force. With strength weaker than Liu Tian's, he scattered and shattered Liu Tian's power. Then his right fist, which had long been poised to strike, swung out. Like striking a puppet incapable of resistance, Tian Dao brutally blasted Liu Tian into the nearby wall.

The powerful force passed through his body, causing the training room built of bluestone and earthen bricks to tremble slightly. Even after Liu Tian slammed against the wall, he remained suspended there for a moment before slowly sliding to the floor.

"When facing someone with greater stamina but weaker strength than yourself, attacking is correct. But unless necessary, do not commit all your strength to the attack," Tian Dao instructed. "You cannot judge whether your opponent has already seen through your moves and prepared for them."

"If they have already seen through your moves and prepared, then you have been lured into making a move."

"The moment you attack without holding anything back is the instant your defense is weakest. If you are lured into making a move at that moment, then you will die!"

"..."

As Liu Tian listened to his master's guidance, he clutched his chest and slowly rose from the ground.

Liu Tian's face alternated between pale and green. He only felt his strength scattering and his body failing him, as though the power gathered throughout his body had been directly dispersed by Tian Dao's strike. Taking the opportunity to regulate the breath within him, he asked, "Master, was that punch just now the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao—Heart Severing Path?"

"That's right. The First Path of the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao—Heart Severing Path. Its secret lies in striking the core of a person's strength, breaking the nucleus of their power, leaving the victim unable to exert their strength, with their will unable to follow their power and their blood and energy thrown into chaos. Even ten parts of their strength cannot bring out three. It is especially effective against those who have neither practiced body-tempering martial arts nor left themselves any reserve when attacking with all their strength."

Of course, Liu Tian knew exactly who Tian Dao meant by the person it was most effective against. Embarrassed, he could not refute him. He merely hastened to regulate the breath within his body, and at that moment, he also understood why Tian Dao had said experiencing the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao with one's body was the best way to learn it—

For humanoid creatures, unless they possessed special energy, the core points for exerting force were mostly similar: the chest, heart, legs, and spine. When you were beaten day after day until your strength scattered, you would naturally understand how to scatter another person's strength.

Not to mention that the Heavenly Martial Fist had originally evolved from the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao. Liu Tian already had an excellent foundation. As long as he lost a few more times and experienced it a few more times, he would naturally grasp this killing move.

But the training process would definitely not be pleasant, and this was only the first killing move of the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao. Who knew how many more killing moves would follow?

If there are too many moves after this, can I really live until the day I learn them all? And why is Master in such a hurry?

Imagining the countless beatings that would most likely await him in the future, Liu Tian's expression turned bitter. He felt a wave of phantom pain—phantom pain called this hurts, that hurts, everywhere hurts.

But before he could think of anything further, Tian Dao, already unable to wait, closed in once more. "Good disciple, let's start with a hundred rounds today!"

"No!"

The miserable cry pierced the soundproof training room, startling the children outside who had been pressing their ears against the door to eavesdrop.

"What are Master and Senior Brother doing in there again? They haven't come out at all, and Dad has already come to pick us up..." Piglet scratched his head. As the last one remaining to say goodbye, he felt that Master and Senior Brother would not be opening the door anytime soon. He no longer paid attention to the two clearly engrossed in martial training inside, turning and jogging into his father's embrace. "Dad, Dad, let me tell you..."