Listening Waves Technique

Rumble!

Su Xinghe's qi and blood erupted in an instant.

His five fingers shot out like eagle talons, clamping down on the other man's withered wrist.

Then he yanked hard.

Thud!

Old Madman, little more than a skeleton, was hauled up by him, his shriveled upper body hanging over the windowsill.

"So heavy!"

After Inner Tempering, he could now lift stone locks weighing three or four hundred jin with one arm. Yet at this moment, he could barely drag the other man's upper body out the window.

But never mind that. He would fight first.

"Giving you wine!"

"Letting you eat meat!"

"And even hanging around with Liu Laizi!"

"You ungrateful wretch!"

No wonder Old Madman had nearly died. After Liu Laizi had been sent in, there had been no one left to bring him food.

In that instant, old grudges and fresh hatred all rushed to his head.

With an iron chisel in hand, Su Xinghe wielded his perfected Eight Trigrams Palm like a windmill.

Again and again, he chopped at Old Madman's back of the head and neck.

The chisel striking the skull produced a string of dull knocks.

"So hard!"

With the force of several hundred jin behind a perfected Eight Trigrams Palm, even a bull should have been left with split hide, torn flesh, shattered bones, and severed tendons.

"As expected of a Martial Warrior. His skin membrane has definitely been tempered."

"Even his bones are unbelievably hard..."

Lower Ninth Rank tempered the skin membrane; Upper Ninth Rank forged the bones. This fellow was at least an Upper Ninth Rank Martial Warrior.

Su Xinghe's arm was swinging so hard it was nearly throwing sparks.

Crack!

The old wooden windowsill could not withstand the tremendous force and was smashed apart under his blows.

Old Madman's body, stiff as a stubborn stone, fell to the floor with it.

"Hehehe..."

Lying facedown amid the splintered wood, he suddenly let out a hoarse sound that was half crying, half laughing.

In the darkness, it was like the mournful cry of a night owl.

"You still dare scare people!"

Su Xinghe swiftly switched to another perfected leg technique and viciously kicked at his head.

"You... really... did... come... to... wait... for... me..."

This madman must have done too many shameful things; his mind was full of delusions that others were persecuting him.

Even at this point, he still could not let it go.

Crack!

The space beneath his foot suddenly vanished.

With a rumble, his kick slammed into the wall.

"That hurts!"

Su Xinghe clutched his foot and sucked in a sharp breath.

Old Madman's bones and skin membrane had indeed been tempered, but prolonged illness and pain had severely atrophied his muscles. Before his bones could break from the kick, his fragile neck joint gave out first.

"B-B-Boss... h-he's dead!"

Little Beggar, hiding to one side, cried out in a trembling voice.

"What?"

Rubbing his nearly broken toes, Su Xinghe looked at Old Madman lying on the ground.

Sure enough, this senior seemed to be somewhat dead.

Old Madman's eyes were still glaring furiously. Yet his head and body had already folded into a one-hundred-eighty-degree angle.

Even so, Su Xinghe was not reassured.

He raised the chisel and drove it forcefully into the eye socket.

The peeling wooden door creaked open. Watching Su Xinghe stride inside, Little Beggar looked back at the pitch-black, stinking gutter beside him, gritted his teeth, and could only force himself to follow.

"Ugh... it stinks!"

It was the first time either of them had entered this house.

The moment they stepped inside, the rotten stench of corpses washed over them.

Little Beggar's face instantly turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly turned and ran out of the little dark room.

Su Xinghe did not move.

His gaze remained fixed on the bedroom inside.

Something had just flown out of his chest.

For some reason, this was the first time Little White Bat had taken the initiative to leave him.

White Bats were timid by nature. Normally, Little White Bat did not even dare peek outside. Only in the dead of night, when it was hungry, would it poke its head out from beneath his clothes and ask to be fed.

Under the dim candlelight.

Scattered white bones lay within the bedroom door.

Some belonged to small animals, while others belonged to humans.

But most were human skeletons less than a meter long...

They formed a circle, surrounding and guarding a pitch-black "octopus" about a foot high at the center.

Its eight shriveled tentacles drooped loosely across the pile of bones. Its enormous head had lost its moisture and collapsed inward, exposing a hollow cavity within.

A plump Little White Bat came wobbling out of that cavity.

It seemed to have something clamped in its mouth.

Little White Bat's pink skin had now turned crimson. It spread its wings and flapped desperately. Only then did it manage to lift off, wobbling into Su Xinghe's arms.

"Squeak, squeak~"

A black bead quietly rolled free and fell into his arms. Beneath his collar, Little White Bat opened its mouth and let out a satisfied burp.

Then it closed its eyes contentedly.

To an exotic beast, the brain matter of an Outer Demon might have been ordinary sustenance. Unfortunately, this was the Zhou Martial Sage Dynasty, and the little fellow could only feed on the blood of living creatures.

Su Xinghe tugged at the front of his shirt, covering Little White Bat.

The foul stench filling the entire house had come from this pile of bones in the bedroom.

"Outer Demon..."

Su Xinghe silently called out the name in his heart, and memories long sealed away began to surface.

A pitch-black cave, countless lumps of flesh and blood sent in to feed an "octopus" more than ten times larger than this one. People extracted the "octopus's" bodily fluids to cultivate precious medicine.

Somehow, Old Madman had obtained an Outer Demon and hidden it in Tongzi Ward, feeding it in secret.

Perhaps it had been to treat his injuries, or perhaps to evade his enemies.

But his injuries had been too severe.

He could only feed this Outer Demon with corpses picked from the stinking gutter. Then Liu Laizi's gang had been wiped out, cutting off his food source.

In the end, the demon starved to death.

And he starved to death as well.

"Report it to the authorities?"

The thought had barely arisen before Su Xinghe snuffed it out at once.

Who was he to meddle in something like this?

Ten minutes later, the room had become a complete mess.

There was no silver, nor were there any divine weapons or sharp treasures.

He found only a black token and a roll of grayish cowhide paper.

One side of the token bore a carved saber, while the other was inscribed with the three characters "Yi Thirteen." Though he did not recognize them, he pocketed it to investigate later.

The cowhide paper had long developed a patina and was as hard as a dried hawthorn roll. He only pried it open enough to glance at the title. It was a manual called "Listening to Tides Art."

It said it was used to test talent and was not some true martial art or peerless technique. Afraid of breaking it apart, he still did not know its contents for the time being.

It was not convenient to start a fire in the city, lest it draw the attention of the Public Security Office. He could only toss the bones and corpses inside into the stinking gutter beside the house before hurrying away.

That counted as doing a good deed, saving the Public Security Office from a huge headache.

Otherwise, not only would the Public Security Office patrolmen suffer, but the Martial Dao Bureau would probably turn all of Tongzi Ward upside down.

The night sank like water, and all sounds were still.

The two walked one behind the other, silently carrying their own thoughts.

Along the way, Little Beggar was no longer afraid.

His heart simply beat a little faster.

After nearly half a year of watching and investigating, he had finally gotten results tonight. He did not know what Listening to Tides Art was, but it was enough that he knew Martial Warriors practiced it.

Before the little ruined temple.

"I'm leaving."

After casually saying goodbye out of habit, Su Xinghe turned to leave.

A small hand suddenly caught the corner of his clothes from behind.

"Boss..."

"Hmm?"

His steps halted, and he slowly turned around.

The boy had tilted his head up, his clear eyes filled with a plea too deep to dissolve.

"You..."

Su Xinghe was about to ask when he saw the other's gaze slowly drop, finally settling on his chest.

The blazing longing in the boy's eyes was exactly like his own when he had once searched everywhere to buy a true martial art.

"Ah, how did I forget about this?"

"Come on. Let's go to your room."

He actually wanted to see what talent he possessed as well, and while he was at it, test Little Beggar too.

"Thank you, Boss!"

Light immediately appeared in Little Beggar's eyes.

That light dispersed the inferiority and loneliness that had long shrouded his heart. It was like flowers blooming in spring, and like the blazing summer sun.

A candle was lit in the side hall.

There was no table in Little Beggar's room, so the two sat side by side against the edge of the bed.

The pale yellow cowhide paper was covered in tiny cracks along its edges, its layers soaked through with grease until it had taken on the texture of jade, as if it had weathered countless years. Though it had been preserved well, it had begun to harden and turn brittle.

After no small effort, they finally managed to flatten it out.

Line after line of ancient little characters slowly emerged.

"Listening to Tides Art

Heavenly One Sword Sect, entry talent test.

Written by Venerable Canglang in the first year of Zhou Martial. Copied by Piaoxue in the year 512.

The sword is sharp; it must not be wielded at will. Water is gentle; only then may it be put to use. When one reaches the utmost emptiness, one may reflect upon the inner heart. Guard a point of mysterious light, and the spirit shall reveal itself...

The formless is not used; observe form and reveal it outwardly. When the spirit resonates, one ascends the pavilion, and mysteries shall surely be bestowed."

With his experience in the true martial art Golden Ape Fist, as well as his broad study of various martial arts and techniques, Su Xinghe quickly understood the principles of Listening to Tides Art after setting aside a few peripheral details.

This was not a true martial art, nor could it circulate qi and blood to strengthen one's body through Inner Tempering. It was even less capable of tempering the body, forging bones, or cultivating Dark Force.

Listening to Tides Art did not even state its grade. It seemed to be merely a cultivation method for testing one's martial talent.

He simply did not know where the Heavenly One Sword Sect was. There was no information about it in his memories.

It mainly taught people how to sit in meditation, breathe and regulate their breath, and strengthen their spirit. Then they would preserve their spirit, look inward, and turn their gaze upon themselves.

Yet there were still certain crucial points in it that exceeded Su Xinghe's understanding. He did not quite understand why the method described in the art could test a person's martial talent.

But he had a secret.

Within his Fate Panel, the cultivation method for Incomplete Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi, which had no experience value, was somewhat similar to this Listening to Tides Art.

The difference was that one reflected the self, while Incomplete Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi was anchored to another object.

After reading through it once, he looked up and discovered that the boy beside him was already sitting cross-legged. His eyes were half-closed, and his breathing was long and steady. Clearly, he had already entered the state described by the art, where self and object were both forgotten.

Su Xinghe sighed inwardly.

Martial arts really did require the heart of an innocent child. While he was still thinking this and that, others had already begun cultivating.

He silently opened the Fate Panel in his mind.

"Su Xinghe: White Ape Martial Academy (Outer Sect Disciple)"

"Martial Dao: Apprentice Grade (Inner Tempering 1%)"

"Fate: Diligence Makes Up for Dullness"

"Trait 1: Not a Drop Escapes, Unyielding"

"Trait 2: Grains of Sand Build a Tower, When Water Flows, a Channel Forms"

"Listening to Tides Art (First Glimpse of the Path) 0/100"

"Golden Ape Fist (Hall-Entering) 967/1000"

"Ascending Dragon Stance (Hall-Entering) 566/1000"

"Incomplete Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi 0/10000"

"Army-Breaking Grab (Perfected)"

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