Moonlight poured like water over the silent mountain woods.
Jiang Ye sat cross-legged on a blue-gray rock. By the cool moonlight, he carefully opened the two manuals that still held the warmth of their previous owner.
He skimmed a few pages. Delight grew ever stronger in his aged eyes.
"Both of these are manuals of ranked martial arts!"
There were as many martial arts in the world as hairs on an ox, and most were unranked.
For instance, the Transformation Strength fighters who had founded martial arts schools in Anxi County, including Liu Qingshi, all practiced and taught unranked forms of boxing.
It wasn't that they didn't want to learn better techniques. They simply had no way to get them.
Ranked martial arts had always been tightly controlled by the imperial family, sects, and noble clans, and kept secret from outsiders.
That was what it meant for a teaching to be passed on only to those deemed worthy.
"Looks like these warriors who dabble in evil and heretical ways have their connections!"
Jiang Ye read through the manuals in his hands, his eyes growing brighter by the moment.
No wonder so many warriors were willing to sink into depravity and join demonic cults. The lure of ranked martial arts was probably one reason.
He casually opened Blood Moon Saber and studied it closely.
The saber art was exquisite beyond compare. Every move was a technique for killing, nothing like any saber art he had seen before.
As he read, he silently worked through the forms in his mind, as if saber flashes had already swept through his thoughts hundreds of times.
A moment later, he closed the manual and instinctively drew the gleaming curved saber from behind the ugly man's waist.
Its blade curved like a crescent moon, its edge thin as a cicada's wing. In his hand, it felt strangely just right, as if he had practiced with a saber for years and he and this weapon were old acquaintances.
He rose to his feet, drew a deep breath, and turned his wrist.
Whoosh!
He slashed! The blade flashed like a ribbon, cutting through the night!
"Blood Moon Saber proficiency +3!"
The system panel appeared.
Host: Jiang Ye Lifespan: 70/95 Strength: Transformation Strength (Early Stage) Fate: Ascension Stairway [Effect 1: Extraordinary Comprehension!] Martial Arts Mastered: Five Animal Fist [Perfect] Blood Moon Saber [Beginner, 3/500] True Intent Mastered: Tiger Walk Like Sickness, Spirit Ape Thousand Changes, Startled Deer Leaves No Trace
Jiang Ye froze for a moment.
He had once heard Liu Qingshi say that ranked martial arts were profound and difficult to master. An ordinary warrior might train for a whole year without even reaching the beginner level.
And yet, after just a little while reading, he had already mastered the basics.
Hiss!!!
So this was what extraordinary comprehension meant.
Jiang Ye grew eager and immediately began practicing the saber forms.
Chop! Slash! Lift! Hook!
These were the most basic saber moves, yet in the hands of a beginner like him, they flowed like water and came as naturally as breathing, as if he had immersed himself in the art for decades.
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later—
Whoosh!
With a piercing whistle that tore through the air, Jiang Ye suddenly twisted his wrist!
The curved saber in his hand came down like moonlight spilling from the sky, its edge sharp and unstoppable as it slashed across the waist of the headless corpse lying on the ground.
Splurt.
A soft sound.
Where the blade passed, the corpse was cut cleanly in two!
Only then did blood slowly seep from the cut, staining the dead leaves red.
"Excellent saber work!"
Jiang Ye lowered his saber and stood still. Looking at the curved blade, still gleaming coldly, he couldn't help praising it softly.
An inch longer, an inch stronger.
His Five Animal Fist was certainly ingenious, but it was ultimately a form of unarmed combat.
Learning another saber art would give him one more way to deal with his enemies.
In these chaotic times, nothing was more reassuring than having another trump card.
He slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air, sheathed the curved saber, and tucked it close against his body.
Then he began reading the other manual, Diamond Body Refining Technique, to see if he could master this art as well.
Before long, Jiang Ye's brows furrowed.
Diamond Body Refining Technique was an extremely profound body-hardening art, and its demands on practitioners were astonishingly strict. If your body wasn't strong enough, you couldn't even begin to learn it.
What's more, every time you practiced, you had to apply a specially prepared secret medicine all over your body to temper your bones, sinews, and flesh. Without it, you would only be harming yourself.
Jiang Ye continued reading, his brows knitting even tighter.
The manual gave detailed instructions for preparing the medicine.
But several of the main ingredients—Snow Sun Flower, Heavenly Sunflower Grass, and Green Water Luo—were all rare. They couldn't be found on the market and could only be obtained from major apothecaries or the black market.
Each ingredient could easily cost over a thousand taels of silver.
In short, this was a body-hardening manual that was extremely difficult to begin learning.
"I'll have to find a way to practice it once I reach Prefecture City."
Jiang Ye shook his head slightly and tucked Diamond Body Refining Technique into his robes as well.
There was plenty of time. No need to rush.
He bent over again and searched the corpse, now cut in two, carefully.
This time, he found a thick stack of banknotes. Even the smallest denomination was worth a thousand taels.
"So much?!"
He had known the man must have amassed a good deal of ill-gotten wealth, but even so, shock flashed through Jiang Ye's eyes as he looked at the thick stack of banknotes in his hands.
He counted them. Altogether, they amounted to a full two hundred thousand taels.
One could only imagine how many people this beast had killed.
Jiang Ye fell silent for a moment, then tucked the heavy stack of banknotes into his robes as well.
He rose to his feet and took one last look at the corpse, now scarcely recognizable as human. Then he turned and strode after the Su Family's departing party.
His figure soon merged with the vast darkness, as if he had never appeared at all.
"Hm?! There's something going on over there."
Jiang Ye had only just left the small woods when his keen senses picked up the faint sounds of a fight somewhere behind and to his right.
He had no interest in other people's quarrels and had no intention of turning back. He was about to leave.
Suddenly—
"Black Old Five! You beast, surrender already!"
A clear, spirited shout rang out.
"Hahahaha!!! Little girl, I'm telling you to stop sticking your nose into other people's business. If you keep pestering me, don't blame me for capturing you, a true disciple of the Azure Sky Sect, and having my way with you for three days and three nights!"
A sinister voice replied.
Jiang Ye, who had been about to leave, paused. A cold glint flashed in his aged eyes.
Black Old Five?
He had heard the ugly man from the Seven Kill Cult mutter that name to himself earlier.
This man was surely another fiend from the Seven Kill Cult.
If he discovered the ugly man's disappearance, he would pose a serious threat to Liu Qingshi and the others.
Jiang Ye considered this for a moment, then quietly approached.
He would see if he could find a good opportunity to send Black Old Five to hell to reunite with his brother.
Before you continue