Danger Approaches (Please Bookmark)

Name: Fang Xing

Age: 17

Occupation: Martial Artist

Second Realm: Sinews and Bones (Tendon Refinement: 20/100)

Military Body Boxing Twelve Forms: 56/100 (Proficient)

Great Dragon Stance: 9/200 (Mastery)

Gate of Heavens (Charging)

"Seventeen already..."

Happy Home District.

Fang Xing focused on the Attribute Panel and could not help sighing.

With Demon Birds causing trouble in Green Forest Market, things would definitely be turbulent for a while.

At the very least, today was sure to be chaotic.

That was why he had chosen to travel straight back.

According to the Gate of Heavens' pattern, the next time he traveled over, he should appear in the basement of his rental house at Ding Zi District, House Number Fifty-Seven.

"Just in time to avoid the chaos... After all, I'm sitting on a mountain of gold now. Going out to fight over a few copper coins would be ridiculous."

Fang Xing stroked his chin. "With Demon Beasts running rampant, I really won't feel safe unless I get myself a Laser Gun... Besides that, I need to get my hands on an A-Rank Martial Arts technique and start learning it as soon as possible."

As for leads on A-Rank Martial Arts?

Aside from the rather unreliable Black Market channels, he currently had only two targets.

The first was naturally Xia Long Teacher. He could call and ask. It might disturb his vacation, but Xia Long Teacher probably would not mind... right?

The second was Gu Yun!

This future junior schoolmate of his definitely possessed the inheritance of the Ghost God Blade.

Of course, possessing the Ghost God Blade inheritance was nothing special. After all, Ghost God Blade, Crazy Eighteen Strikes, and Mad Demon Staff Technique were all public high school textbooks!

As long as one reached the required realm, one could apply to learn them.

However, she should have some preliminary guidance that could help him enter the Beginner stage smoothly.

Without the Demon Blade, getting started with the Ghost God Blade will be very difficult. But I have the Attribute Panel—perhaps I can give it a try?

After thinking it over, Fang Xing felt Xia Long Teacher was more reliable, so he called him first.

"Beep. The user you have called is currently outside the service area. Please try again later..."

A sweet voice promptly replied.

"Outside the service area?"

Fang Xing was instantly dumbfounded. "Xia Long Teacher... didn't go to another planet, did he?"

Interstellar communications were extremely expensive, and they could not possibly cover all of Chuying Star.

If Xia Long had gone to another planet for vacation, it was perfectly normal that his phone could not be reached.

"Looks like... I'll have to wait until school starts to see Xia Long Teacher? Damn it... I want to travel to another planet too... The Federation's entertainment industry is actually quite developed. There are even planets dedicated specifically to pleasure..."

After muttering to himself for a while, Fang Xing called Gu Yun.

This genius top student was available, and she accepted the call within seconds.

"It's you. What is it?" Gu Yun looked cool and detached, clearly adopting a get-to-the-point attitude.

"It's like this. I want to learn the Ghost God Blade! Can you send me the detailed materials?" Fang Xing knew Gu Yun's style, so he got straight to the matter.

"The Ghost God Blade? Have you mastered the Demon Blade?" Gu Yun's eyes lit up.

"No, I haven't learned it..."

Fang Xing shook his head.

Gu Yun fell silent. Only after a moment did she send several videos and documents. "I'm sending you my private tutoring videos. This version of the Ghost God Blade is more extensive than the textbook material and includes many tricks, but I have to tell you... my teacher taught this to me, and it carries my style. It may not suit you. Also, without controlling Demonic Nature, entering the Beginner stage of the Ghost God Blade will be extremely difficult. Even if you do get started, you may end up going down the wrong path!"

"I know. I'm only previewing the new course in advance. Thank you."

Fang Xing smiled at Gu Yun and ended the call.

He naturally understood that the best way to learn martial arts was through personal instruction. And since her teacher had taught Gu Yun, while the materials were certainly richer than the public textbooks, they might also carry a strong personal style.

What suited Gu Yun might not suit him. He might even practice himself further and further astray!

But I have the Attribute Panel, so I can still try...

If it really doesn't work, I'll hire a private tutor. Though a single private lesson costs tens of thousands, I've got a bit of money now...

Fang Xing calmed himself before opening one of the files Gu Yun had sent.

First was, naturally, the complete Ghost God Blade manual, along with numerous annotations.

He read through it once to gain a general understanding, then opened a video.

A light screen appeared. Within it was a woman in her thirties dressed in a black bodysuit, with a Centipede Scar across her face.

With the Federation's medical technology, scars could be completely removed without leaving a trace.

She had deliberately kept that scar. It clearly held some memorial significance—it was just unclear whether it represented love or hatred...

"A-Rank Martial Arts are brilliant achievements created by the Federation through the combined efforts of many martial arts Grandmasters. They can simulate the power of artistic-conception-level martial arts and protect one's spirit. They involve numerous disciplines. By classification, the Ghost God Blade can actually be divided into several stages: Meditation Method, Hypnosis Method, Ghost Slaughter, Slay Gods, Fighting Ghosts and Gods... To enter the Beginner stage of the Ghost God Blade, it is best to first bring the Demon Blade to Great Accomplishment, control Demonic Nature, and wield it at will..."

"The first step of the Meditation Method is to meditate upon the artistic conception of the Ghost God Blade. Its artistic conception is 'blade in hand, ghosts and gods spared none'! Some martial artists cannot understand it and replace it with a 'slaughtering artistic conception.' That has ultimately been proven to be the wrong path... During meditation, distracting thoughts arise in endless streams and killing intent becomes startling. At that time, one must use the Demon Blade's Demonic Nature to subdue them..."

The Black-Clothed Woman explained everything in detail, and Fang Xing found it immensely beneficial.

"As expected, the Ghost God Blade does not absolutely require the Demon Blade as a prerequisite. One can actually enter the Beginner stage directly, but the difficulty is extremely high. It requires exceptional meditation attainments, and one's spirit must reach the No-Thought State to replace the Demon Blade's Demonic Nature..."

"The key is... what exactly is this artistic conception of 'blade in hand, ghosts and gods spared none'?"

Fang Xing really wanted to complain.

Yet in the video, the black-clothed female blade wielder merely drew her blade and told Gu Yun to feel it.

Through the screen, he could not feel anything at all!

"Personal instruction, personal instruction... This is the value of a good teacher. If it were Xia Long, he should be able to evoke an artistic conception for me to experience properly. But now..."

Fang Xing shook his head. "Even if the Federation lifted the restrictions on Learning Devices, such mysterious artistic conceptions might not be learned through consciousness infusion..."

"Ghost God Blade, Ghost God Blade... To enter the Beginner stage, I'll probably have to hire a martial artist who has mastered the Ghost God Blade to demonstrate its artistic conception. The other A-Rank Martial Arts are probably the same... Demonstrating the artistic conception merely grants one the qualification to practice. It is still far from actually getting started..."

The sheer difficulty of learning A-Rank Martial Arts made even Fang Xing sigh.

The next day.

Old City District, Black Market.

After disguising and modifying his appearance, Fang Xing came here again.

He could not help it. He was still short on money!

So, he had once again bought a large amount of gold in the market with Spirit Sand at scrap-collection prices, intending to sell it here.

Selling the gold and laundering the money went very smoothly.

As he passed the Blood Cage Arena, Fang Xing's heart stirred, and he walked inside.

The Bunny Girl at the Fighting Arena reception desk today was still the same one.

"Hello, Roubao... Uh, that codename kind of ruins the mood. Can I call you something else?"

Fang Xing's gaze moved down from the Bunny Girl's plump red lips and landed on the two snowy-white, oversized buns, prompting him to speak.

"You can call me by my name—Zhang Jiarui!"

Zhang Jiarui answered with a smile. "You're early again today, sir. The Blood Cage fights haven't started yet..."

"Ahem... If I want to witness the artistic conception of the Ghost God Blade, is there any way to do that?"

Fang Xing coughed and stated his request.

"The Ghost God Blade? As one of the three most widespread A-Rank Martial Arts, many fighters in the arena have mastered it. The most famous among them are Black Sparrow, Iron Hand, and Multi-Armed Blade..."

Zhang Jiarui considered it before answering, "You can book an equipment fighting match. If any of those three fighters participate, there's a high chance you'll witness the Ghost God Blade's artistic conception... But the artistic conception invoked during an actual fight is completely different from one demonstrated for teaching..."

Trying to comprehend an artistic conception from merely watching a single fight was practically a fool's dream.

"Is that so? Good. Book me the nearest match with one of those three."

Fang Xing took out his Black Market Communicator.

"Certainly. The nearest one is two days from now at nine in the evening. Iron Hand will be fighting!" Zhang Jiarui checked the information and immediately gave him the time and location. "Regular seats are 5,000 Star Dollars per person. VIP seats..."

"A regular seat will do."

Fang Xing waved his hand. No matter how many times he saw them, Black Market prices still made his heart race.

He received an invitation to the Fighting Arena, browsed around the Black Market for a while longer, then headed toward New City District.

In the darkness, a Lizard seemed to glance at him. It flicked its tail, slipped into a sewer, and swiftly vanished...

Within the sewers, all sorts of pipes crisscrossed one another, carrying a pungent stench.

The underground pipeline blueprints of Old City District had long since been buried in the dust of History. It had now become a tangled mess that no one could ever fully explore.

Inside a hidden room, a large, rough-skinned hand grabbed the Lizard. A hint of a smile appeared in its triangular eyes. "Finally found a suitable target? After making moves these past few times, he should have at least 500,000 Star Dollars to his name, right?"

To be honest, a sum at this level would not attract any formidable people, nor would it be worth using Black Market firearms or anything like that—the investment would not even be recouped.

But he did not mind making a move.

After all, the target looked rather weak.

Carrion Feeder Lance was merely an insignificant little figure in the Black Market. Even so, he was a martial artist of the Uncut Jade Realm and had awakened a Superpower that allowed him to communicate with certain small animals!

This time, he had set his sights on Fang Xing!