Martial Intent

"Three hundred and six years. Devote every last bit of it to training the Stone-Shattering Fist!"

Buzz...

Three hundred and six years began flashing through Zhang Yu's mind. The Stone-Shattering Fist, which had already broken its limits once, reached its third limit-break after three hundred and six years of tireless cultivation.

Second limit-break: the Stone-Shattering Fist advanced into a third-rate martial art, and he comprehended the hidden-force killing move—Great Avalanche.

Third limit-break: he cultivated a martial intent—Shattering Intent.

Zhang Yu's sinews, bones, flesh, and blood were all wracked by intense pain. His soul, too, felt as though it were being pierced by needles.

A vast power was remaking his flesh and bones, while another mysterious force tugged at his soul.

He clenched his teeth and uttered not a sound. It felt as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at his entire body as tremendous changes took place within him.

A quarter of an hour later, the transformation finally ended. A large amount of black, greasy filth seeped from every pore of Zhang Yu's body, reeking to high heaven.

He hurried to the nearby stream to wash himself, then quietly examined his current system data.

[Name: Zhang Yu]

[Realm: Peak Hidden Force]

[Martial skills and techniques: Stone-Shattering Fist, third limit-break; Bright Force killing move: Mountain-Crushing; Hidden Force killing move: Great Avalanche; Martial Intent: Shattering Intent]

He had comprehended the Stone-Shattering Fist into a third-rate martial art.

Mastering a third-rate martial art made one a Bright Force martial artist, while cultivating it to perfection allowed one to comprehend Hidden Force.

But to cultivate Transforming Force, one could only rely on second-rate or first-rate techniques. Those techniques possessed not only moves, but also stance training and breathing methods.

Transforming Force required cultivating the internal organs and marrow, changing one's blood. Stance training and breathing methods were essential; he simply could not comprehend them on his own through time alone.

What was more, his knowledge of martial arts was far from profound.

Still, Zhang Yu's three hundred and six years of bitter cultivation had not been wasted. He had cultivated the Stone-Shattering Fist to a miraculous level, touched upon the origin of martial arts, and comprehended the martial intent of shattering.

The difficulty of martial intent was such that martial artists of the lower three realms—Bright Force, Hidden Force, and Transforming Force—could not comprehend it at all. Only upon reaching the middle three realms could one possibly touch upon martial intent.

"Shattering Intent?" Zhang Yu was curious. Rising to his feet, he circulated his force and punched a tree as thick as a man beside him.

"Shattering Intent!"

Bang!

A soft sound rang out as his fist struck the trunk.

The next moment, buzz... an invisible ripple spread through the great tree.

The man-thick tree was not snapped in half at the waist. Instead, it shattered into wooden rods as thick as fingers.

The hundred-plus wooden rods were all exactly the same thickness.

Hiss...

Zhang Yu sucked in a breath of cold air. He had not expected martial intent to be so formidable.

This was utterly the manifestation of force refined to the microscopic level, infused with a trace of the origin power of shattering. Then his body swayed, his head aching slightly as his mental energy was overdrawn.

Martial intent also consumed mental power.

Even a Transforming Force martial artist would probably die if they took one strike of my martial intent, Zhang Yu thought happily.

[Ding! The system replacement countdown has ended. System replacement will now begin.]

Before he could celebrate for long, the system's voice rang out in his mind.

System boss, please give me an awesome system. Stat points, card draws, simulations, pay-to-win—anything will do, Zhang Yu prayed inwardly.

[Ding! System replacement complete. Saint Teacher System.]

"What?"

"What the hell is the Saint Teacher System?"

Zhang Yu stood there dumbfounded.

"System brother, can you change it to another one?"

"System grandpa?"

"Fuck your grandpa!"

Zhang Yu burst into curses, but the system paid him no heed whatsoever.

Only after he had tired himself out from cursing did he calm down and inspect the Saint Teacher System.

[1. Your disciple's cultivation is your cultivation.]

[2. Eye of Truth-Piercing: can inspect detailed cultivation aptitude, rather than merely dividing bone aptitude into broad categories of high, middle, and low.]

[3. A Hidden Force martial artist may take three disciples.]

"That's it? System, are you screwing with me? Where's the ten-thousandfold return? Has this system not finished replacing itself yet?"

"System grandpa?"

"Fuck!"

Zhang Yu gave up resisting.

Li Yue, sitting not far from him, looked extremely nervous. She had noticed Zhang Yu muttering to himself as though he were speaking to someone, but there was nobody around.

Did Yellow Wolf beat his brain bad?

It's all right. If his brain really is damaged, I'll take care of him for the rest of my life. Li Yue silently made up her mind. She had to repay Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu calmed down and comforted himself. "Having a system is better than having no system."

Then, to test this Saint Teacher System, he activated the Eye of Truth-Piercing and looked toward Li Yue in the distance.

[Name: Li Yue]

[Gender: Female]

[Age: 13] (Yellow Wolf really was a beast. Letting him die so easily had been too good for him, Zhang Yu cursed inwardly upon seeing this.)

[Cultivation aptitude: Mediocre] (Poor, mediocre, good, excellent, outstanding, transcendent)

[Comprehension: Good]

[Fate traits: Tempered a Thousand Times, Obsessive, Unyielding]

"Huh? The classifications for cultivation aptitude and comprehension are so detailed. And what are fate traits?" Zhang Yu was filled with curiosity. He tapped on the fate traits and saw the explanation within.

[Tempered a Thousand Times: Those with this fate trait can, so long as they continuously practice a certain skill, eventually reach its origin power.]

"Hiss... This fate trait is incredibly powerful. What a pity—Li Yue's cultivation aptitude is only mediocre, and her comprehension isn't all that good either." Zhang Yu inwardly lamented.

As for Obsessive and Unyielding, he did not check them. Their meanings were easy enough to understand from the words themselves.

That also explained why Li Yue had kept following him, insisting that she wanted to repay him. Her obsessive nature was at work.

Come to think of it, perhaps only those who were obsessive and unyielding, with the Tempered a Thousand Times fate trait, could make it to the very end.

"So Li Yue is actually a little genius? What a pity, what a pity—her aptitude and comprehension are both not very good." Zhang Yu sighed again.

Over the following days, he did not drive Li Yue away again. Of course, he did not pay her any attention either, much less say that he wanted to take her as his disciple.

Zhang Yu was no saint. He was fleeing for his life now and could only look after himself.

If she could keep up, then she could follow. If she could not, then it meant they had no fate as master and disciple. At the same time, Zhang Yu also wanted to see whether the system's Eye of Truth-Piercing was truly accurate.

Three days later, Zhang Yu broke the silence and took the initiative to speak with Li Yue. During those three days, they had passed through a town. Zhang Yu had used the Eye of Truth-Piercing on several hundred people, yet he had not seen a single person with fate traits.

The overwhelming majority of ordinary people had poor cultivation aptitude, poor comprehension, and no fate traits.

Only then did he understand how incredible it was for Li Yue to possess three fate traits and good comprehension.

"Li Yue, I'm going to Boundless City, three thousand li away. If you want to go, I can take you with me." Zhang Yu sat down beside Li Yue and handed her one of the meat buns he had bought in town.

All right, he was just an ordinary man after all. For the sake of the Saint Teacher System, he would no longer act so aloof.

After all, Li Yue now seemed to be a little genius.

"Benefactor, I'll go. Wherever you go, I'll go." Li Yue took the meat bun and spoke as she ate.

Zhang Yu nodded.

A burst of noisy commotion came from behind them. Looking into the distance, it seemed that a group of refugees was heading their way.

Over the past three days, Zhang Yu and Li Yue had already encountered several waves of refugees.

The Boundless City he intended to visit stood near the Ten Thousand Mountains. It was a chaotic place, where dragons and fish mingled and slaughter never ceased—the most suitable place for a wanted man like him.