第36章 玉液金阳八宝玄身

"I see your fist techniques are crude and your footwork is ordinary, yet you wield every martial art with such supernatural mastery."

"To have such martial talent and yet join the imperial court—what a pity!"

Butcher Zhang walked into the office, grabbed a water jar, and gulped down the cold water with a series of loud swallows before shaking his head and smacking his lips.

"Is the Demon Suppression Division inferior to the Jianghu sects?"

Shen Yi was quite interested in these "common truths."

"That's not it. The Demon Suppression Division gathers all the martial arts of the Great Gan Dynasty under one roof. In terms of foundation and background, it is the absolute top choice."

Butcher Zhang set down the water jar and continued, "It's just that there are too many rules. You have to climb up layer by layer from the bottom. A genius like you, if you had joined the Vajra Sect, would at the very least be treated as an elder's personal disciple, with priority access to all sorts of precious medicines and divine weapons."

He sighed. "But that's not possible now."

Shen Yi raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"Think about it. If your aptitude were mediocre, I wouldn't mind paving the way for you and concealing your identity. But with your talent, if you say the Demon Suppression Division doesn't want you... no ghost would believe it. There isn't a single sect in the entire Qing Prefecture that would accept your visiting card."

Butcher Zhang took several sheets of yellow paper he had prepared from his robes.

Clearly, his mind was not as careless as he appeared on the surface; from the Spirit Snake Eight Steps Shen Yi had used yesterday alone, he had deduced the other man's predicament.

"I joined the Vajra Sect at six and was called a heaven-sent prodigy by my master. Yet now, at forty-eight, having slain countless demons and consumed more beast essence and precious medicines than I can count, I have only managed to open seven orifices."

"There are two reasons for this. First, the Vajra Sect is different from other sects; it focuses on tempering the body with the breath of heaven and earth. Most of the breath absorbed is consumed by the physique, so progress is several times slower than others."

Butcher Zhang bared his teeth and extended his arm. "You've seen the effect. If I hadn't wanted to demonstrate it to you just now, I could have unleashed the breath within my orifices; while I might not have been able to do much to you, self-preservation would have been more than enough."

"However, I cannot give you the Vajra Precious Body. Look here."

He shoved the yellow paper into Shen Yi's hands. "This is a little something I puzzled out myself, and it's also the reason why I've only barely reached the late stage of the Initial Realm."

Shen Yi spread out the pages.

Understanding it was one thing, but he still had to flip through it.

"Jianghu sects have their own disadvantages. Once you have a bad temper or offend someone, you basically have no chance to get ahead."

Butcher Zhang's expression was calm as he spoke of the past. "Since they wouldn't give me martial arts for the Jade Liquid Realm, I figured it out myself. It's a pity that after spending over a decade, I only just managed to cross that threshold... It's just a hypothesis, don't take it too seriously, but once practiced to completion, it should be at least as strong as the Vajra Precious Body."

"The second half is about the Jade Liquid Realm. I'll explain it to you in detail once I've thought it through."

Shen Yi read slowly, and the panel appeared before his eyes.

[Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body (Upper Volume): (Not yet initiated)]

"..."

Seeing the specific text, Shen Yi forcibly calmed his mind, though his breathing still faltered for a moment.

According to Butcher Zhang, this martial art was only within the scope of the Initial Realm, and anything beyond that was merely conjecture.

But now, verified by the panel, it proved that the man's ideas were correct. All that was missing was time; once the lower volume was completed, this would be a legitimate Jade Liquid Realm martial art.

By comparison, while the Blood Baleful Blade Technique was incredibly ruthless, its growth potential was clearly insufficient and it had specific restrictive conditions. The value of the two could hardly be mentioned in the same breath.

Shen Yi fell into silence, which made Butcher Zhang feel a bit uneasy. He scratched his head.

"Even though it's just my wild guess, the foundation borrows from the Vajra Precious Body. Heh, there's a high probability it won't go wrong... Anyway, I'm practicing it ahead of you. If any problems arise, it won't be too late for you to decide."

"Senior has great talent."

Shen Yi carefully put away the yellow paper, his face showing deep emotion.

In his panel, just deducing a single Initial Realm blade technique would take a full fifty years.

For the other man to achieve this without external help in just over a decade—this was the true genius.

"I told you not to call me senior. You think I'm joking? Exchanging martial arts is just a side benefit." Butcher Zhang smacked his lips and walked toward the door, rolling his eyes. "I walked here from Qing Prefecture, and my travel money ran out long ago. I'll have to call you 'Boss' to earn a living from now on... Alright, get to work. Just give me the blade technique once you've finished copying it."

Shen Yi watched him walk away and shook his head, puzzled.

Although Baiyun County wasn't large, there were plenty of people willing to support an Initial Realm martial artist. Why did the man have to fixate on him?

Forget it.

He closed the newly installed door and turned his gaze to the panel.

[Remaining Demon Lifespan: 226 years]

Originally, he had intended to save this lifespan until Lin Baiwei finished copying the records.

But after yesterday's events, Shen Yi suddenly felt a sense of urgency to master a means of self-preservation.

Thinking of this, he let out a dry laugh.

When he had only one year of lifespan left, he had been able to charge at the Black-skinned Dog Demon without hesitation.

Why was it that now, with forty-six years of lifespan, he had been so rattled by two snake women?

Cherishing one's life was truly a human instinct, even for one who had scavenged it.

Shen Yi composed himself and poured the demon lifespan into this newly acquired martial art.

[In the first year, you learned the skill of tempering the body with the breath of heaven and earth. Unlike the Wind and Thunder Precious Scroll, it no longer assimilates the body into a container, but tempers the body with breath, forging flesh and blood into a divine weapon.]

[In the second year, because your twelve orifices are complete and your breath is long and endless, this grinding work holds no difficulty for you. You only need to pass through the tempering of time to naturally undergo a rebirth.]

[In the seventh year, the Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body (Upper Volume) is initiated.]

[In the fifteenth year, you break through to the minor success stage.]

[In the twenty-ninth year, the Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body (Upper Volume) reaches great success.]

[In the forty-second year, you reach perfection, and your physical body steps into a new realm.]

[Remaining Demon Lifespan: 184 years]

He didn't know if it was because he had wasted too much time deducing new martial arts.

Seeing the scene unfold so naturally on the panel, Shen Yi actually felt a bit unaccustomed to it.

Was that it?

Having performed deductions so many times, Shen Yi had discovered a problem.

As long as it didn't involve aptitude, the grinding work consumed very little lifespan, but if it involved insight... there was almost no upper limit to the consumption.

He had let himself test Butcher Zhang's hypothesis first, but he didn't know if it was as powerful as the man had imagined.

He looked at the saber on the table, rolled up his sleeve, and drew the blade, lightly slicing his arm.

No reaction.

Shen Yi increased his strength in turn, watching the blade bounce off again and again.

It wasn't until he re-applied the Sha Qi to the blade and struck with a Blood Baleful Blade Technique, gathering all his breath, that anything happened.

A layer of profound light instantly shimmered over his fair, sturdy forearm, and the red mist dissipated straight away.

With a crisp clack, the saber snapped.

Shen Yi looked at the broken blade, his expression one of astonishment.

It hadn't broken after slaying so many demons, only to snap against himself.

Wasn't that a bit too exaggerated?

Was this the foundation of a Jianghu sect?

He bent down to pick up the broken half of the blade. The saber hadn't been cheap, but he could blame it on the tiger demon from yesterday and just go to the workshop to exchange it for a new one.