Information

"Old Arts, Secret Martial Arts, so that's how it is."

Time flowed by.

Ten minutes later.

Hu Long leaned back in his chair.

A look of sudden realization appeared in his eyes.

The content recorded here answered most of his questions.

The database here did not contain any deeper information.

To open other sections, one had to become a true Secret Martial Artist.

That is, to break through to the Body Casting Realm.

Only then, by joining the Pivot Court and becoming a member, could one unlock them.

The Pivot Court itself was a platform for Secret Martial Artist exchange, jointly created by the various clans of the Yu State and the Yu State government.

One could post, trade items, or accept missions there.

There were no major restrictions.

Of course, all of this required reaching the Body Casting Realm.

The content regarding Secret Martial Arts was not much different from what Hu Zhenkui had said.

The only difference was that it was more detailed, specifically explained for newcomers, and easier to understand.

A Secret Martial Artist is someone who masters force through the practice of Secret Martial Arts, utilizing that force to strengthen their body on a path of transcendence.

Powerful Secret Martial Artists possess physical functions that are superhuman in every aspect; in Hu Long's view, this was a warrior-style transcendent system.

For instance, Body Casting, Skin Grinding, and Bone Tempering were all processes of specializing in the physical body from the outside in.

The only difference was the mastery of force.

Beyond that.

What caught Hu Long's attention was something else.

It was another path of transcendence, aside from Secret Martial Arts.

Practitioners of the Old Arts.

The Old Arts was a collective term that included incantations, sorcery, and all sorts of bizarre techniques.

Old Arts practitioners were more like mages; such beings were the most troublesome, as they could hide in the shadows.

They mastered all kinds of strange and unpredictable abilities.

If the physical strengthening of a Secret Martial Artist could barely be explained, then the Old Arts were fundamentally inexplicable by science.

However, although Old Arts practitioners were powerful, aside from a few techniques that could strengthen the body, most of them were not much stronger than ordinary people when it came to their physical form.

Once discovered by a Secret Martial Artist and forced into close-quarters combat, they had only one path: death.

Furthermore, the aptitude required for practicing the Old Arts was far more stringent than that of Secret Martial Artists.

Yet, relying on their bizarre techniques, if one were to truly compare them, Old Arts practitioners were more powerful.

It was even rumored that in more ancient times, the Old Arts were the mainstream.

But this situation shifted over time due to some irresistible forces.

Unlike Secret Martial Artists, whose practice relied on the physical body.

For an Old Arts practitioner to enter the path and cast their arts, they had to receive the blessing of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Essence.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Essence was a special power drifting between heaven and earth.

As time passed, this power gradually faded away.

It became incomparably thin.

This inevitably led to the decline of the Old Arts; powerful techniques could no longer be cast, and only some evil arts that required self-harm, blood sacrifices, or carried massive hidden dangers could barely be performed.

Therefore, Secret Martial Artists began to rise.

If the path of the Old Arts had not already been severed, how could those practitioners have been reduced to being hunted and driven away?

The reason the Old Arts were "old" was that they had been thoroughly abandoned by the era.

In the world today, only Secret Martial Arts were the mainstream of transcendence.

"That Green Bag Fragment must belong to the practice methods of the Old Arts, though it is but a fragment..."

With these pieces of information added, some things naturally became clear.

For example, the actions of Xue's parents—the slaughter of those women and children—was because they wanted to use blood sacrifice methods to practice.

Humans are the spirits of all things.

They can naturally serve as a substitute for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Essence in the practice of Old Arts.

It is precisely because of such cruel cultivation methods.

That practitioners of Old Arts are met with full-scale resistance and suppression by the official authorities of the Yu State and other nations across the world.

On the surface, this world is ruled by various countries.

But in reality, it is controlled by alliances formed by various clans.

Truth be told, one could say that only the clans are the true power holders.

Those who hold power in the open also have inextricable ties to these clans.

Otherwise, they would not be able to sit securely in their positions.

It is for this reason that, in a certain sense, the clans are equivalent to the official authorities themselves.

This also explains why the main family's power is so astonishing and why they possess such cohesion.

Of course, clans are also divided into different ranks.

This requires evaluation based on various aspects, such as the longevity of the clan's lineage and the strength of the Secret Martial Artists within, which can be divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers.

Upper tier: Must have a lineage spanning a thousand years and at least one Secret Martial Artist in the Blood Exchange realm.

Middle tier: Must have a lineage spanning over five hundred years and at least one in the Bone Tempering realm.

Lower tier: Must have a lineage spanning over three hundred years and at least one in the Body Casting realm; the threshold is quite low.

Compared to the former.

As an aggregation of extraordinary forces.

They naturally place more importance on strength.

And the Hu Family barely squeezed into the ranks of the middle-tier clans.

Do not be fooled by the fact that they only barely reached the middle tier.

In reality, the power they wield is immense.

The entire Huanyang City and several surrounding cities are under the control of the Hu Clan.

They can even dismiss officials with a single word.

Furthermore, becoming a Secret Martial Artist.

Joining the Pivot Court offers many benefits, not to mention various invisible perks and advantages.

Among them is a certain quota of secret medicine provided annually.

And the most important point.

Official Secret Martial Artists registered with the Pivot Court possess a certain quota of authority to kill.

Of course, this killing authority does not mean one can kill the innocent or slaughter ordinary people at will.

Rather, it is directed at those who attack oneself or endanger others.

To think such authority exists. But it stands to reason; has the intervention of extraordinary power caused this world's society to develop in such a distorted way?

Hu Long's gaze flickered.

He automatically ignored the requirements attached to the killing authority.

In reality, as long as one does not go too far, almost no one will bother to check.

He pulled back his thoughts.

His gaze moved downward, resting on a line of text on the computer screen.

The information he can currently view covers four aspects in total.

They are clans, Secret Martial Artists, Old Arts, and finally, Strange Specters.

Unlike the previous three categories.

Strange Specter is a collective term, not referring to any single type.

It includes evil objects, vengeful spirits, monsters, and everything that cannot be understood.

These things all share a unified characteristic.

Regardless of what they look like now, they were not inanimate objects before; they all possess a certain special vitality.

In other words, they are all alive, or at least once were.

All of these can be called Strange Specters.

Seeing this.

Hu Long's heart stirred.

He thought of the Blood Soul Guide on his body.

According to this description, this thing should be a combination of Old Arts and a Strange Specter.

No wonder it was so troublesome.

This thought flashed through his mind.

Immediately after, he considered another matter.

"Wait a moment, if that's the case, then the human skin, the roots inside the Wood Lotus, and the Snake Bone Bracelet—could all of these be types of Strange Specters?

If so, does that mean the source of the Primordial Plain Panel's Source Value is these Strange Specters?"