What His Parents Left Behind

"Sixty million's already been deposited. That was quick!"

After marveling at it, Guan Ning clicked the flashing button on the page. A line of text appeared on it: "You have two new emails."

Guan Ning tapped the wireless keyboard's touch screen and opened his inbox.

"Whoosh!"

The first email opened, and a video appeared.

"Hello, Mr. Guan Ning." A middle-aged man in a black suit appeared on the large screen, smiling. "I'm Supervisor Yu's assistant. The supervisor promised that as long as the secret manual cost no more than one hundred million, it would be reimbursed directly through the internal network, and not a single cent would be deducted from your account. If the price exceeds one hundred million, you'll have to pay the difference yourself. On behalf of the supervisor, I'd also like to congratulate you on passing the Warrior Combat Assessment."

With that, the video ended.

"The Limit Martial Hall has treated me pretty well." Guan Ning clicked on the second email.

It was another video.

"Welcome to the Limit Martial Hall, newly minted Warrior Guan Ning." A sweet-looking young woman smiled. "I represent the Limit Martial Hall in welcoming you to our big family. This is your first time logging into the Limit Martial Hall's internal network—Limit Home! Let me introduce you to what Limit Home has to offer."

"First, on Limit Home, you can purchase weapons of all ranks, Guiding Techniques, movement manuals, offensive manuals such as blade, spear, and sword techniques, as well as firearms, vehicles, protective gear, communication systems, specialized explosives, special medical drugs, gene serums... and even rare materials and treasures. As long as you have enough money, you can buy them."

"Once you pay, your purchase will be delivered within 24 hours."

"Through Limit Home, you can even hire War General Level Warriors, or even War God Level Warriors, to give you one-on-one instruction over the internet. Of course, you'll need to pay enough money."

The young woman in the video smiled. "If you have enough contribution points, all the items mentioned above will be half price!"

Guan Ning skipped the rest. His parents had already told him all this.

At the thought of them, Guan Ning suddenly remembered his parents' final instructions. He went down to the basement, where a dark gray safe sat in the corner. It had been left behind by his parents.

They had specifically warned him never to reveal anything about the safe. They'd looked especially grave when they said it. According to them, the safe had a special mechanism: besides fingerprint verification, opening it also required a certain level of strength.

Guan Ning was very curious about what was inside. He'd tried opening it before, but hadn't been strong enough. He wondered if he could manage it now.

"Beep!"

After his fingerprint was verified, the safe's surface sank inward, revealing a layer of gel. Guan Ning gathered his strength and drove a punch into it, his fist wrapped in a fierce gust of wind.

"Bam!"

His fist, carrying 4,500 kilograms of force, struck the gel. It shuddered, and a dark gray box suddenly popped out.

"Clink."

The box hit the floor with a crisp sound.

Guan Ning opened it. Inside were a small, yellowed booklet, a flash drive, and a letter.

"Ning'er, the little booklet below contains a set of martial arts manuals your grandfather picked up when he was young. Back then, martial arts novels were all the rage across the country, and your grandfather followed the trend, buying a lot of manuals—things like the Nine Yang Manual, the Nine Yin Manual, the Yi Jin Jing, and so on. In those days, nobody would have taken such manuals seriously."

"I never imagined that after the Great Nirvana, your dad would accidentally learn one of them. The manual is called Dugu Sword Art. The great swordsman who created it was called Dugu Qiubai. In martial arts novels, he was mentioned but never appeared. We used to think he was fictional, but now it seems he may really have existed..."

"I won't waste words. When the Great Nirvana began, your dad was only seven or eight. By the time things had stabilized, I was already twenty. Your mother and I aren't especially gifted. We owe the fact that we reached High-Level Warrior Rank to this manual. We haven't even learned one percent of it. So, until you're strong enough, never reveal it. Otherwise, you'll bring disaster upon yourself. Never forget that. —Guan Hong"

"Ning'er, if you're reading this letter, it means that something terrible has happened to your dad and me. We won't be there to keep you company in the days ahead. You must live well. You must. —Tang Xuan"

Seeing the familiar handwriting, Guan Ning remembered the warmth of their family reunited. His eyes grew misty, and his vision gradually blurred.

Guan Ning wiped away a tear and carefully examined the yellowed booklet beside him.

The cover bore only four characters: Dugu Sword Art. On the title page was a line: "A tree too wide to wrap in one's arms grows from a tiny shoot; a nine-story tower rises from a heap of earth; a journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."

Guan Ning nodded. He deeply agreed with those words. If he hadn't focused on the fundamentals, how could he have reached Micro-Level movement and Mastery-Level swordsmanship already? That was the importance of a solid foundation.

The second page gave an overview of the manual, along with Guan Hong's annotations.

"This manual combines swordsmanship, movement techniques, and a Guiding Technique."

"The first level has nine ordinary sword moves and one ultimate move."

"The first level is about speed. Under heaven, nothing can defeat speed. The final ultimate move is called the Swift Sword."

"Fast, and your opponent won't have time to defend!"

"Fast, and your sword can become unstoppable! Whether you're attacking a weak point or relying on sheer force, making your sword faster is the best approach!"

Guan Ning nodded as he read. Most Warriors in human society understood this principle nowadays. Basically everyone knew the mass-energy equation.

With mass held constant, the faster something moved, the more terrifying its energy! At a certain speed, even a jet of water could pierce steel. Wasn't the waterjet cutter the clearest example?

Below that was a line in distinctly different handwriting, an annotation from Guan's Father.

"Once the first level is mastered, the Swift Sword is incorporated into every stroke. Body Amplitude reaches 2 times, meaning strength is amplified by 1 time. After learning the Guiding Technique, training speed increases by 1 time. Swordsmanship reaches Mastery-Level, and movement techniques reach Micro-Level."

At this point, Guan Ning was already breathing hard. He hurriedly read on.

"The second level has thirty-six ordinary sword moves and one ultimate move."

"This level is about technique: the sword takes an unexpected path, with no beginning and no end. The final ultimate move is called the Hidden Edge Sword."

"The sword is long, slim, and light, with speed as its focus. Strike first and seize the initiative; prioritize offense. A swordsman must move nimbly, use clever techniques, and win with unexpected moves."

Guan Hong's annotation read: "Once the second level is mastered, the Hidden Edge Sword is incorporated into every stroke. Body Amplitude reaches 4 times, meaning strength is amplified by 3 times. After learning the Guiding Technique, training speed increases by 3 times. Swordsmanship reaches perfection, and movement techniques reach Perfect-Level."

As Guan Ning read on, he felt a growing sense of familiarity. He thought of something unbelievable and immediately turned the page. Sure enough...

"The third level has nine ordinary sword moves and one ultimate move."

"This level is about strength: a heavy sword has no edge, and great skill seems clumsy. The final ultimate move is called the Mountain Crushing Sword."

"The heavy sword represents a higher level of technique, the ultimate expression of strength. A swing of the heavy sword may lack dazzling speed, but its power is such that it cannot be ignored—and cannot be blocked."

Guan Hong's annotation read: "I haven't trained in the third level yet; what follows is my guess. Once mastered, the Mountain Crushing Sword is incorporated into every stroke. Body Amplitude reaches 8 times, meaning strength is amplified by 7 times. After learning the Guiding Technique, training speed increases by 7 times."

The more Guan Ning read, the more excited he became. His face flushed, his breathing grew faster, and his body trembled slightly.

"The fourth level has only one hundred and eight ordinary sword moves."

"This level is about Conception-Level. When all one hundred and eight moves are fused into one, one can reach the realm of Ten Thousand Swords from One."

Guan Hong guessed: "Once the fourth level is mastered, Ten Thousand Swords from One is achieved. Body Amplitude reaches 16 times, meaning strength is amplified by 15 times. After learning the Guiding Technique, training speed increases by 15 times."

After reading it all, Guan Ning was overwhelmed. He was convinced that his father's guesses about Dugu Sword Art were right.

Mastering the first level meant Mastery-Level swordsmanship and Micro-Level movement.

Then mastering the second level meant Perfect-Level swordsmanship and Perfect-Level movement.

The third level meant Conception-Level swordsmanship and Conception-Level movement?

Would mastering the fourth level mean reaching the Domain-Level for real?

A secret technique that led directly to Domain-Level wasn't common even in the universe. According to the original story, before Babata revealed itself, Earth didn't have a single secret technique that reached Domain-Level.

Could Hong's World Destroyer spear technique have a hint of Domain-Level in it?

That wasn't all.

First level—Body Amplitude of 2 times, training speed increased by 1 time;

Second level—Body Amplitude of 4 times, training speed increased by 3 times;

Third level—Body Amplitude of 8 times, training speed increased by 7 times;

Fourth level—Body Amplitude of 16 times, training speed increased by 15 times.

This was a tremendous "surprise"!

Surprise my ass. This was a terrifying shock!

And the highest Body Amplitude manual on Earth was Thor's Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, which only reached 7 times. Basic Sword Technique could reach 16 times—it was simply horrifying.

Increased training speed didn't just mean faster gains in strength; it also accelerated the transformation of the soul. For Guan Ning, this was a godsend!

"Whether it's the swordsmanship level, Body Amplitude, or training speed, revealing any one of these would drive Earth's Warriors mad. I absolutely must not reveal anything about the manual."

Guan Ning now understood just how precious—and terrifying—this manual was.