Ghost Wall

As for martial arts...

No, for any systematic power system, keeping one's secrets close was the norm.

Not to mention extraordinary or near-extraordinary powers that belonged to the individual—even scientific systems, which required collective effort, were tightly guarded between nations.

Even though Wu Pifu had obtained the Tiger Demon Art easily, receiving the complete set of techniques—nourishing, training, and combat methods alike—from the random draw when he established his first shelter, he knew that a full set of martial arts techniques was the closely guarded secret of every school. It was no longer merely a matter of passing them to sons but not daughters; whether they would be passed down at all was uncertain, and if necessary, they would simply be taken into the grave.

Lin Heier prostrated herself before him and offered to teach him the complete Yellow Lotus Holy Mother Art. Before Wu Pifu could speak, Xu Rongyu beside him had already swallowed several times in succession.

Only people of this world knew what a complete set of techniques truly meant.

Naturally, Wu Pifu was tempted as well. Leaving aside everything else, Lin Heier's straddling strike from earlier, if used in an actual battle, would likely have left him severely wounded even if it did not kill him in one punch. Only now did he learn that it simulated Dan Force techniques. It was simply outrageous.

Bright Force, Hidden Force, Transforming Force, Dan Force, Astral Force, Seeing God Without Ruin—the six realms of martial arts were separated by enormous gaps, gaps so vast they could practically be called crushing. Yet at the Hidden Force realm, one could temporarily simulate Dan Force. This was not merely a trump card that could turn the tide in battle; more importantly, one could gradually probe the mysteries of Dan Force through such simulation. That was its greatest value.

Just this alone meant the Yellow Lotus Holy Mother Art surpassed the Tiger Demon Art by an unknown margin. The Tiger Demon Art's three branches—nourishing, training, and combat—were actually quite ordinary. Only its general outline, which could cultivate Sleepless Spirit-Sense, had anything remotely noteworthy about it.

Wu Pifu did not answer immediately. After considering for a while, he said, "I can't guarantee it. At a height of around fifty meters, even if a catapult-like device can launch me up there, whether I can hit it and whether I can break through are both uncertain. After daybreak tomorrow, Yamadai and I can make the launcher, but everything else will depend on fate."

Lin Heier was overjoyed. She bowed deeply again and said, "Then we must not delay. I will teach Master the circulation secrets of Lotus-Seated Force right now."

The two immediately went to a side hall. Xu Rongyu watched with burning envy and repeatedly sighed. "My big brother truly has found his fortune. This is the Yellow Lotus Holy Mother Scripture, a secret-level cultivation art..."

Unfortunately, the two people listening to him came respectively from the Third War and the Fourth War. Neither understood what he was talking about. He might as well have been playing music to a cow.

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, everyone left the main hall and saw Wu Pifu outside in the courtyard, crouching slightly with his legs loosely crossed. Though it was not Lin Heier's lotus-seated posture, it carried a sense of unified force.

So-called Dan Force was, in truth, the gathering of qi in the dantian, moving the body's qi and blood into the dantian until they formed a unified whole.

"One golden pill swallowed into the belly, and only then do I know my fate is mine, not Heaven's." In the context of martial arts, this referred to Dan Force. It was the beginning of the human body opening the door to another evolution, the point at which one gradually began to step into the realm of transcending flesh and entering sainthood.

"...What extraordinary talent."

Lin Heier stood beside Wu Pifu, guiding him. When she saw him finally lower himself into the straddling posture, she could not help muttering those words.

The others came out as well. Yamadai could not help saying from the side, "That's different from the Guanyin Seated Lotus pose you used yesterday."

Lin Heier's pretty face reddened, and she immediately snapped, "What nonsense are you talking about?! It's called Lotus-Seated Force, not some Guanyin Seated—ptui! Barbarian!"

Yamadai scratched his head. "What's the difference?"

Naturally, Lin Heier refused to say anything more to Yamadai. Xu Rongyu tugged at him from the side and said, "Guanyin Seated Lotus is a term for men and women... doing that sort of thing. How can you use it for martial arts? Besides, once martial arts reach a profound level, what matters is resemblance in spirit, not resemblance in form."

Yamadai still did not understand. He was a veteran of the Third War, and his mind was filled with scientific knowledge of warfare. Curious, he asked, "Do you understand standardization? The error in every screw cannot exceed one nanometer. Their movements are completely different, yet you're telling me this is the same martial art? I think this little lady is just fooling Wu Pifu."

Lin Heier considered herself a master. Though embarrassed and angered, she did not say a word. Xu Rongyu did not even count as a Bright Force martial artist. He had only heard some martial theories from his father and could say that spirit mattered more than form, but he did not know why. Naturally, he could not explain it now.

Instead, as Wu Pifu squatted and gathered his qi, he still had enough energy to speak. "Because each person's physical structure differs in subtle ways. At the beginning, martial arts must be learned exactly as taught, but once you reach a higher level, you need to make adjustments according to the subtle differences in your own body. I'm a man, so naturally I can't assume that deep-squatting lotus posture. After adapting it, this is what my Lotus-Seated Force looks like."

At that, Yamadai understood. During the Third War, biotechnology had also been used to develop humanity's combat potential. Because everyone differed in genes, height, ancestry, talent, and so on, the parameters required for biological enhancement differed as well.

Lin Heier, however, circled Wu Pifu in astonishment. Once again, she sighed, "What extraordinary talent. Your qi and blood are so abundant that you hardly seem human. Even while gathering qi in your dantian, you can still speak without difficulty..."

Wu Pifu merely smiled and did not explain. As he trained, he said to Yamadai, "You can start making the launcher. There are only two requirements. First, launch me toward that distorted human figure. Second, the height of the launch must not be lower than it. I'll handle things like accuracy myself."

Yamadai did not mind. He turned and headed toward the storeroom, while everyone else went about their tasks. Xu Shilan prepared breakfast. Xu Rongyu inspected the torches and oil, then patrolled the several buildings of the charity cemetery. Not to mention Yamadai and the others—even Xu Rongyu, who had originally been a hostage, was now willingly contributing his effort.

Meanwhile, Wu Pifu focused wholeheartedly on cultivating Lotus-Seated Force. The more he practiced, the more he felt its mysteries were inexhaustible.

To comprehend the secrets of the Dan Force realm while still at Hidden Force was simply wondrous beyond words.

Most importantly, he now had someone to guide him!

Although Wu Pifu had received the complete three methods of the Tiger Demon Art from the Main Brain, including nourishment, training, and combat methods, they were ultimately only information implanted into his mind. He lacked an understanding of the finer details. This was where a master, or at least a guide, was needed.

For him to have recklessly trained alone with such a dangerous weapon, not only avoiding sudden death but even reaching the Hidden Force level—it was hard to say whether he was simply lucky in his foolishness or truly possessed extraordinary talent.

Now that Lin Heier was teaching him so diligently, even though it was only an explanation of Lotus-Seated Force, it gave him a systematic understanding of the entire martial arts system. It could be said to have laid a deep foundation for his future achievements.

Throughout that day, the paper people were nowhere to be seen. Yet everyone felt heavily burdened. At night, sparse ghostly wails drifted over once more, though far fewer than before. It seemed the paper people were nearly finished devouring all the ghosts in this charity cemetery.

Everyone slept uneasily that night. The next day, Yamadai continued building his launcher while the others carried on with their tasks. At dusk, they suddenly heard hoofbeats and miserable screams from afar. Xu Rongyu had been helping Yamadai tighten vines to construct a catapult-like device. Upon hearing this, he immediately jumped up and shouted, "Brother Wu, save me! Brother Wu, save me!"

At that moment, Wu Pifu was practicing with a kitchen knife under Lin Heier's instruction.

"A fist strikes like a spear, a claw strikes like a blade. Within the principles of boxing, unarmed martial arts share the same principles as swords, spears, and staffs."

As Lin Heier instructed Wu Pifu in the techniques of wielding a blade, she said, "I have met three grandmasters. Mister Sun Lutang, the Tiger-Headed Bodyguard, learned the broadest range and possessed the highest martial skill. Mister Du Xinwu, the Hero of North and South, learned the most varied arts and possessed the strangest martial skill. Though he was younger than me, he was already a Transforming Force grandmaster. The last was Mister Li Shuwen, the Divine Fist Without a Second Strike. His learning was the most refined, and his martial skill the most vicious. I once asked all three what would happen if they fought the other two. Their answers were identical: Mister Li Shuwen would be wounded, while the other two would die. That was because Mister Li Shuwen had fused the principles of boxing and weapons into one. With a long spear, he was invincible within ten meters."

"And what you have learned is the tiger form of Xingyi, though it has mutated. Your moves are vicious and carry the feeling of a mad demon, a mad tiger. In that case, you should train claw and blade together, refining the refined. With your extraordinary physical talent, your future achievements will be limitless..."

Just then, Xu Rongyu's cries reached them. The two looked over at the same time. Meanwhile, they also heard hoofbeats, weeping, shouting, and the occasional gunshot coming from outside the charity cemetery.

Xu Rongyu rushed over while shouting, then dropped to his knees and cried, "Brother Wu, please save my father!"

"They got here so quickly!?" Wu Pifu knew the situation was urgent. He immediately ran to the courtyard, grabbed two torches, and charged out of the charity cemetery.

Lin Heier followed closely behind, then Xu Rongyu, while Yamadai and Xu Shilan remained behind to guard the charity cemetery.

There were more hoofbeats and more gunshots. Without question, this was Xu Rongyu's father Xu Zhenshan's group, the largest band of mounted bandits in the Xuanhua region and beyond the pass.

As they ran, Xu Rongyu anxiously said, "I came to Xuanhua Prefecture under my father's orders to meet the senior sister of the Red Lantern Society. After I set out, my father was to lead his own men here as well. The plan was to join the grand cause with Senior Sister and support the Qing, destroy the foreigners. So once news of my kidnapping reached them, there was no need for it to return to the mountain hollow. My father could learn about it along the way. Judging by the time, if he hurried, he could arrive within three days."

Today was precisely the third day since Wu Pifu's group had arrived in this dream world. And now, at dusk, the newcomers truly could have been Xu Zhenshan's party.

The three ran forward, but after running for a full seven or eight minutes, all they saw before them was road, woodland, and an endless haze.

Wu Pifu abruptly stopped, then threw back his head and roared. His roar was like thunder, like a howl. In an instant, the scene before them suddenly cleared. Less than a hundred meters ahead, over a hundred horses thrashed and bolted in every direction, while more than a hundred people screamed and wailed like ghosts. More than ten paper people fluttered through the crowd. Any mounted bandit they touched either died on the spot or gradually transformed into a paper person.

In the middle of the wailing bandits, a muscular middle-aged man was surrounded by four paper people. Paper scissors, a paper mallet, a paper pitchfork, and a paper hoe pinned down his limbs, and paperization had begun spreading from his hands and feet.

As Wu Pifu's roar rose, the surviving mounted bandits seemed to finally see their surroundings clearly. They screamed even more miserably. Those missing arms or legs tried to flee toward Wu Pifu and the others.

"Father!" Xu Rongyu's eyes split with fury as he roared and tried to charge forward.

The middle-aged man was Xu Zhenshan. He seemed to have just awakened from some illusion as well, but before he could do anything, the four paper people carried him off, drifting into the depths of the woods.

The three tried to pursue, but in the next instant, everything before them became a vast haze again.

They could see nothing.