Object Manipulation Technique and the "Suicidal" Divine Movement Talisman

By the time he returned to that bare-walled studio apartment, where even rats would leave wiping away tears, the moon was already overhead.

Ye Tian carefully locked the doors and windows, then casually sprinkled a handful of fine ash along the crack beneath the door. This old-fashioned anti-theft trick might have been crude, but in a place like the Shinobi World, where Body Flicker Techniques ran rampant, it worked better than any lock.

He sat cross-legged on the bed again and closed his eyes to look inward.

"That bowl of 'nourishing soup' packed full of eggs hadn't gone to waste. It had plenty of energy."

Inside his Dantian, the thin, secondhand-smoke-like gaseous Spiritual Energy was violently catalyzed by the Purple Lingzhi and the essence of the bone broth, finally reaching its critical point.

"Drip."

A drop of water sounded, audible only to him.

The mist collapsed and compressed, eventually condensing into a drop of Spirit Liquid that resembled liquid mercury.

Qi Refining Fourth Level, marked by the formation of Spirit Liquid.

"My spiritual power purity has increased at least tenfold. Now I can finally play with something more advanced."

Ye Tian opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the porcelain cup on the table. He did not move, merely pointing his index finger through the air.

"Rise."

The Spirit Liquid trembled slightly, and a thread of Spiritual Energy transformed into an invisible tentacle that instantly wrapped around the cup.

Buzz...

The porcelain cup shook, then, under Ye Tian's fervent gaze, wobbled as it floated ten centimeters off the tabletop.

"Go."

He flicked his finger. Like a drunk who had been served fake liquor, the cup lurched crookedly toward the kettle. Under the control of his Divine Sense, the kettle tilted on its own.

Although water spilled all over the table, Ye Tian was very satisfied.

"This move is practically unbeatable for sneak attacks. Just imagine it: the enemy is fighting me with shuriken, and I manipulate the Explosive Tag in his pocket to stick itself right to his face... Heh, another underworld tactic unlocked."

After playing with "Remote Object Manipulation" for a while, Ye Tian began pondering practical combat again.

The ninja's Three Body Techniques? They seemed far too outdated to him. The Substitution Technique required hand seals and finding a log? By the time he found one, his ashes would already have been scattered.

"I have the foundation of the Phantom Traceless Step. If I combine it with an explosive burst of Spiritual Energy to refract light and create an afterimage in an instant..."

He stood in the middle of the room and abruptly channeled Spiritual Energy into his legs.

"Ye-Style Substitution Technique, flash!"

Without any hand seals or windup, Ye Tian's body suddenly blurred.

Whoosh!

An afterimage in a contemplative pose remained where he stood, while his real body had already appeared like a ghost beside the windowsill five meters away.

A second later, the afterimage slowly faded.

"A divine technique! Isn't this just a simplified Flying Thunder God?"

Just as Ye Tian was about to praise himself, a cramp-like agony suddenly shot through both legs, as if tens of thousands of ants were frantically gnawing at them.

"Hiss—"

Supporting himself against the wall, he slowly slid down. When he rolled up his pant legs, he saw that his meridians were glowing bright red.

"Side effect: numb legs. With this mortal body's carrying capacity, I can use it three times at most in one battle. Any more than that, and I'll need to prepare a wheelchair."

Rubbing his legs, he turned his attention to the copy of the Elementary Talisman Compendium rewarded by the system.

"Cinnabar, spirit paper, wolf-hair brush... System, do I look like a money tree that grows gold coins?"

There was no way he could afford to buy them, not in this lifetime. But the essence of a cultivator was mooching off others... no, adaptability.

He pulled out a stack of standard Explosive Tags issued by the academy from his ninja tool pouch.

"The chakra-conducting paper used for Explosive Tags is essentially inferior spirit paper. If I draw a talisman on the back..."

A genius's—no, a madman's—idea took shape.

He bit his middle finger and dripped a drop of blood imbued with Spiritual Power into the ink. Without a brush, he dipped the tip of a Kunai into the bloody ink and began drawing on the back of an Explosive Tag.

Sizzle—

The first one was ruined, emitting a puff of black smoke.

"Too much force. Again."

The tenth one was ruined, exploding outright.

By the twentieth, Ye Tian's eyes were bloodshot. With a final stroke, he hooked, flicked, and finished!

Buzz!

An eerie golden-red gleam flashed across the back of the talisman paper. The front bore the character "Explosion," while the back bore "Swift."

A fusion of East and West, ninja and cultivator alike.

"I have to test this."

Excitedly, Ye Tian slapped this "Divine Movement Talisman" onto his right leg.

"Swift!"

As he formed the hand sign, his right leg instantly felt as light as a feather, but an untamed, wild-horse-like thrust erupted within him due to the unstable structure.

"Holy shit, that's a little too much—"

Whoosh!

A violent gust swept through the cramped room. Ye Tian became a blurry bolt of lightning, charging straight at the load-bearing wall opposite him.

"Brakes! Stop! Hey—!"

Bang!!!

The thunderous impact shook the entire studio apartment, and dust rained down from the ceiling.

A few seconds later, Ye Tian was spread-eagled against the wall like a poster. Then, pulled by gravity, he slowly and incredibly smoothly slid down to the floor.

He clutched his forehead, swollen like a steamed bun, as two streams of nosebleed ran over his pale lips.

"The speed... is comparable to opening the Fourth Gate. But... no brakes... that's a fatal flaw."

Trembling, he tore off the talisman and stared at the shallow human-shaped dent in the wall, on the verge of tears.

But the beating had not been for nothing.

Qi Refining Fourth Level, Object Manipulation Technique, afterimage displacement, plus this "suicide talisman" that he could not control but was enough to make a Chunin question their entire life.

"For tomorrow's delivery mission, let's see who dares touch my package."

He rubbed his lower back and stood up, his gaze turning self-serving and calm at that moment.

As long as the reward was good enough, even if he had to wash socks at the Land of Fire Daimyo's residence, he could wash them into a work of art.