Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body

"I saw that your fist technique was crude and your footwork ordinary, yet somehow, you wielded every martial art with astonishing mastery."

"With talent for martial arts like yours, it's a real shame you joined the imperial court!"

Butcher Zhang walked into the Constabulary Office, grabbed the water jar, and gulped down its cool water. He shook his head and smacked his lips.

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

Shen Yi was very interested in these so-called "common truths."

"Not at all. The Demon Suppression Division gathers the martial arts of the entire Great Gan Dynasty. In terms of legacy and connections, it's among the best."

Butcher Zhang set down the jar and continued, "It's just that there are a lot of rules. You have to climb the ranks one step at a time. If someone as talented as you joined the Vajra Sect, you'd at least be treated like an elder's personal disciple. You'd get first pick of all kinds of precious medicines and divine weapons."

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

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

"Think about it. If your aptitude were average, I wouldn't mind paving the way for you and concealing your identity. But with talent like yours, who'd believe the Demon Suppression Division didn't want you? No sect in all of Qing Prefecture would turn down your petition."

Butcher Zhang took several sheets of yellow paper from his robes. He had prepared them in advance.

Clearly, he wasn't as careless as he seemed. From the Spirit Snake Eight Steps Shen Yi had used yesterday alone, he had deduced the predicament Shen Yi was in.

"I entered the Vajra Sect at six, and my master called me a heaven-sent genius. But now I'm forty-eight. I've slain countless demons and eaten who knows how many Beast Essence medicines, yet I've only opened seven orifices."

"There are two reasons. First, the Vajra Sect differs from other sects. We temper ourselves with the breath of heaven and earth, and most of what we absorb is spent on strengthening the body. That's why our progress is several times slower than other people's."

Butcher Zhang bared his teeth and held out an arm. "You saw the results yourself. If I hadn't wanted to show you just now, I could've released the energy in my orifices again. I might not have been able to do much to you, but I'd have had no trouble protecting myself."

"But I can't give you the Vajra Precious Body. Look here."

He stuffed the yellow paper into Shen Yi's hand. "This is a little something I worked out myself. It's also why I've only barely reached the late stage of the Initial Realm."

Shen Yi spread out the pages.

He might not understand them, but he still had to flip through them.

"Martial sects have their own disadvantages. If you've got a bad temper and offend the wrong person, you'll basically never get a chance to rise."

Butcher Zhang spoke of the past with a calm expression. "They wouldn't give me a Jade Liquid Realm technique, so I figured one out myself. Unfortunately, after more than ten years, I've only just crossed that threshold... It's only a theory, so don't take it as fact. But once it's fully mastered, it should be at least as good as the Vajra Precious Body."

"The second half is about the Jade Liquid Realm. I'll explain it to you once I've figured it out."

As Shen Yi slowly turned the pages, a panel appeared before his eyes.

[Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body, First Volume: (Not yet mastered)]

"..."

After reading the words, Shen Yi forced himself to calm down. Even so, his breathing faltered for a moment.

According to Butcher Zhang, this martial art only covered the Initial Realm. Everything beyond that was just a theory.

But now the panel had verified it, proving that Butcher Zhang's idea was correct. All that was missing was time. Once he completed the second volume, this would be a bona fide Jade Liquid Realm martial art.

By comparison, though the Blood Baleful Blade Technique was vicious, its potential was clearly limited, and it came with specific restrictions. Their value was almost impossible to compare.

Shen Yi fell silent. Butcher Zhang, on the other hand, grew a little uneasy and scratched his head.

"Sure, I made it up myself, but the basics are based on the Vajra Precious Body. Heh, it probably won't go wrong... Anyway, I'm the one who tried it first. If something happens, you can decide what to do afterward."

"You have a rare gift, senior."

Shen Yi carefully put away the yellow pages, his face full of feeling.

Just to deduce an Initial Realm blade technique, he had to spend a full fifty years on the panel.

Butcher Zhang had accomplished this in little more than a decade, without any outside help. He was the real genius.

"I told you not to call me senior. You think I was joking? Trading martial arts was just a bonus." Butcher Zhang smacked his lips and walked toward the door, rolling his eyes. "I walked here from Qing Prefecture, and I've already spent all my travel money. From now on, I'll have to call you boss and scrounge up a meal. All right, get back to work. Just give me a copy once you've transcribed the blade technique."

Shen Yi watched him walk away and shook his head in puzzlement.

Baiyun County wasn't large, but plenty of people would be willing to support an Initial Realm martial artist. Why had Butcher Zhang singled him out?

Never mind.

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

[Remaining demon lifespan: 226 years]

He had originally planned to save this lifespan until Lin Baiwei finished transcribing the technique.

But after what happened yesterday, Shen Yi suddenly felt an urgent need to master a way to protect himself.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

When he had only one year of lifespan left, he'd charged at the Black-skinned Dog Demon without hesitation.

How had two Snake Women unsettled him so much now that he had forty-six years of lifespan?

The instinct to cling to life truly was part of human nature, even when that life had been picked up off the ground.

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

[Year One: You learned to temper your body with the breath of heaven and earth. Unlike the Wind and Thunder Precious Scroll, which turned your body into a vessel, this technique used qi to refine the body, forging your flesh and blood into divine weapons.]

[Year Two: With your Twelve Orifices complete and your breath long and unbroken, this slow, steady process posed no difficulty. Given enough time, you would naturally shed your old form and be reborn.]

[Year Seven: You mastered the first volume of the Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body.]

[Year Fifteen: You advanced to minor mastery.]

[Year Twenty-Nine: You achieved great mastery of the first volume of the Jade Liquid Golden Sun Eight Treasures Profound Body.]

[Year Forty-Two: You reached perfection, and your body entered a new realm.]

[Remaining demon lifespan: 184 years]

Perhaps he'd spent too much time deducing new martial arts.

Seeing the panel describe everything unfolding so smoothly, Shen Yi actually felt a little unaccustomed to it.

Was that it? Was it over already?

After so many deductions, Shen Yi had noticed a pattern.

As long as a technique relied on steady, gradual effort rather than aptitude, it consumed very little lifespan. But if it involved something like comprehension... the cost was virtually limitless.

Butcher Zhang's theory had been tested out by Shen Yi first. He just didn't know if it was as powerful as Butcher Zhang imagined.

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

Nothing happened.

Shen Yi increased the force bit by bit, watching the blade bounce off again and again.

Only when killing intent coated the blade once more did he channel all his energy into a strike of the Blood Baleful Blade Technique.

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

A sharp crack rang out.

Shen Yi stared at the broken saber, his expression surprised.

It had survived killing so many demons, only to break against him.

Wasn't that a bit too ridiculous?

Was this the legacy of a martial sect?

He bent down to pick up half the blade. The saber hadn't been cheap, but he could pin the cost on yesterday's tiger demon and head to the workshop for a replacement.