Remnant Chapters

Shen Xiuhan closed the door behind him, stepped forward two paces, and solemnly cupped his fists in salute.

"This junior, Shen Xiuhan, greets Steward Ji."

Ji Zhong smiled amiably and pointed toward several rows of bookshelves on the right, speaking bluntly.

"That will do. No need to stand on empty ceremony. Since you are here, let us begin directly."

"The four shelves to your right contain martial techniques and stance arts from the Bright Force and Dark Force stages that my Ji Family has accumulated over many years. You may browse them freely and choose whichever one suits you best."

As he spoke, Ji Zhong lifted the teacup at his side and blew away the floating foam.

"The time limit... is half an hour."

Shen Xiuhan's heart tightened. He immediately cupped his fists in a bow, then strode toward the bookshelves on the right.

He took down booklets and bamboo slips from the shelves one by one and began reading.

"Tiger-Subduing Stance," "Crane-Capturing Hand," "Iron-Sand Palm," "Twelve-Form Buddha-Heart Palm," "Zhao's Stone-Shattering Finger," "Silk-Winding Force," "Grass-Skimming Step"...

After flipping through two entire bookshelves, Shen Xiuhan discovered that most of the techniques were merely basic stance arts and crude martial skills.

In terms of subtlety, they fell far short even of Plum Academy's "Mystic Eagle Stance."

Even when he occasionally came across a Dark Force secret manual, after carefully reading a few pages of its core principles, he found it utterly ordinary, with quite a few flaws besides.

Shen Xiuhan understood at once.

The secret manuals on these shelves had long since been picked over by the Ji Family before being brought out as bargaining chips to win people over.

The truly superior techniques had surely been hidden somewhere more secret.

Still, he did not care too much.

With "Deduction" in hand, any technique could bloom into dazzling brilliance in his hands.

Suppressing his stray thoughts, Shen Xiuhan shifted his feet and moved to the third bookshelf.

Most of the manuals on this shelf concerned weapons and armaments.

"Rock-Shattering Spear," "Bandit-Sweeping Staff Technique," "Jade-Shattering Sword Technique," "Wind-Breaking Saber"...

He skimmed through them at a glance, ten lines at a time. In the end, only "Willow-Sweeping Sword Technique" and "Gate-Cleaving Saber" struck him as passable.

These two weapon arts were precisely the ones his master, Mei Shuangfeng, had mentioned to him before.

As for the other three martial skills she had brought up—"River-Torrent Step," "Wind-Rending Leg," and "Jade-Shattering Returning-Wind Palm"—Shen Xiuhan found them all as well.

Bite off more than you can chew, and you will never digest it.

Weapon arts can wait. What I lack most right now is legwork for close-quarters fighting.

Shen Xiuhan thought to himself.

If he could not find a martial skill to his liking, he would choose "Wind-Rending Leg" to make up for his weakness.

As for why...

Gao Nian's fierce, broad and sweeping leg techniques had truly left a deep impression on him.

Lost in thought, he arrived at the fourth bookshelf.

Compared with the first three, this shelf bore a thin layer of dust. The booklets and bamboo slips upon it also carried an ancient, timeworn air.

Shen Xiuhan pulled out a small booklet with yellowed corners and flipped it open carelessly.

The next moment, his gaze froze slightly, and surprise flashed through his eyes.

"Eh?"

Ji Zhong, reclining sideways on a cushioned couch, heard the sound and glanced at him while taking a light sip of tea.

"Brother Shen, the shelves there contain all sorts of incomplete manuscripts and lone copies gathered from different places. Quite a few are famous, profound techniques, but they are badly incomplete—the beginning does not match the end. Forcing yourself to cultivate them can easily lead to cultivation deviation."

"Thank you for the reminder, Steward."

Shen Xiuhan took a deep breath, his heart beginning to pound despite itself.

The booklet he had casually opened just now described the circulation of qi and blood and the pathways of the meridians in a manner far more profound and intricate than the techniques he had seen before.

Now that Ji Zhong had confirmed it, this place truly held remnants of advanced techniques!

Then came the question.

Could "Deduction" be used on incomplete manuscripts?

Whether it can or not, I will know once I try!

Shen Xiuhan pressed his lips together, casually selected an old, battered bamboo slip, and stirred his thoughts.

[Detected deducible martial art: "Remnant of the Flying-Star Chasing-Moon Sword." Begin deduction?]

Yes.

[Insufficient intelligence accumulated. Deduction may begin after fifteen days.]

It really could!

Shen Xiuhan's heart surged with excitement.

Unfortunately, he lacked enough "intelligence." Otherwise, he could have deduced seven or eight of them...

Still, he could choose one. At least he would not be leaving a treasure mountain empty-handed.

Having made up his mind, Shen Xiuhan sped up his reading, preparing to select the remnant technique he liked best.

Yet the more he read, the more his heart thudded in alarm.

"Remnant of the Big Dipper Stance": A foundational stance art from the Big Dipper Sect, a great sect of Cangzhou a hundred years ago. If this art could be cultivated to Transformative Force, one could naturally transition into the Big Dipper Sect's sect-defending technique, "Heavenly-Gang Big Dipper Force," and break through the great barrier of Gang Force!

"Remnant of the Cloud-Dragon Afterimage Step": A supreme movement technique from Cloud-Dragon Mountain, a major sect of Yu Prefecture...

"Remnant of the Compassionate Deliverance True Scripture": Only a scant few pages remained. A technique from the Way of Compassion, one of the two great Buddhist sacred lands of the previous dynasty...

Shen Xiuhan was nearly dazzled by the choices, unable to decide for a moment.

Just then, he touched a damaged scroll with an unusual texture, apparently tanned from some kind of beast hide.

Upon the scroll's cover were several ancient, vigorous characters—

"Remnant of the Creekside Old Man's Divine Ability."

Annotation: A divine ability passed down by Sea-Fishing Tower. Only half of its general outline remains in this scroll. Before Gang Force, one may cultivate the technique "Thousand-Lake Fishing"; after Gang Force, one may cultivate the secret art "Dragon Gate Attraction"; after Divine Presence, one may cultivate the divine ability "Creekside Old Man"...

Sea-Fishing Tower!!

Shen Xiuhan's hand paused slightly, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

He had actually... found news of Sea-Fishing Tower in the Ji Family's library!

Could it be...

This sect was connected to the Ji Family?

Shen Xiuhan's gaze flickered. Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he rose and said,

"Steward... may I ask about the origins of this 'Remnant of the Creekside Old Man's Divine Ability'?"

"Oh, it has no particular origins."

Ji Zhong set down his teacup and answered casually.

"Some river bandits once ambushed one of our family's merchant caravans. After our men killed them all, they found this on one of the dead bandits..."

Shen Xiuhan's heart stalled.

He had finally uncovered news of Sea-Fishing Tower, only for it to amount to this?

Still unwilling to give up, he pressed further.

"Then does Steward know... what kind of sect this 'Sea-Fishing Tower' mentioned in the annotation is?"

"Sea-Fishing Tower..."

Ji Zhong furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before decisively shaking his head. "Never heard of it."

Then, without waiting for Shen Xiuhan to ask more, he kindly reminded him,

"There is not much time left, Brother Shen. Make haste!"

Shen Xiuhan took a deep breath, steadied himself, and said,

"I have made my choice. I will take this 'Remnant of the Creekside Old Man's Divine Ability.'"

"Are you certain?"

Ji Zhong was clearly somewhat surprised, his brows lifting slightly.

"Brother Shen, let this old man remind you: disciples of my Ji Family have cultivated these remnants before, but none managed to make much of them. With incomplete arts and missing methods, the road ahead is blocked. Have you thought this through?"

"I am certain."

Shen Xiuhan deliberately put on an indifferent expression, shaking his head with a smile.

"What Steward does not know is that I have not even fully mastered the skills of Plum Academy's martial hall yet. Bite off more than you can chew, and you will never digest it. For now, I have no plans to cultivate other techniques."

He paused, then added,

"Besides, Steward knows that I was born into a fishing household. This 'Remnant of the Creekside Old Man' appears to record quite a few methods for catching fish. Perhaps it may be of use to me..."

"Hahaha!"

Ji Zhong laughed heartily at that, and the last trace of suspicion in his heart instantly vanished.

"So that is it! I had forgotten that you lad come from a fishing family..."

He stroked his beard and pondered briefly.

"How about this? When you report to Cloud Ripple Island at the beginning of next month, you will be assigned a covered boat. Ordinarily, it may not be used except during patrols... but I will make the decision and allow it. In your spare time, you may use the boat to catch fish. Whether you eat them yourself or sell them to supplement your household expenses is entirely up to you!"

Shen Xiuhan's eyes lit up at once. He gave a deep fist-and-palm salute. "Many thanks, Steward!"

"Hahaha, enough. Since you have made your choice, be on your way."

Ji Zhong waved a hand and lifted his teacup.

"When it is time to depart next month, someone will notify you a day in advance."