Yi Yang pushed open the courtyard gate, entered his room, and slid the bolt into place.
He sat down beside the bed and took the yellowed booklet bound with hemp thread from his Storage Ring.
"Heart Ape Mind Guarding Art: Moving Image Chapter."
Yi Yang opened the first page.
The scent of old ink mingled with the dry smell peculiar to paper wafted toward him.
Several lines outlining the guiding principles were written on the first page.
The handwriting was identical to that in the Still Image Chapter he had seen in the Armory of Suining Prefecture.
"Stillness is the foundation; movement is its application. In stillness, observe yourself; in movement, command all things."
"If the heart ape is unguarded, the spirit wanders and intent scatters, like a mad ape tearing apart its cage;"
"If the heart ape is held firm, intent condenses and spirit gathers, like a vajra guardian holding down a mountain."
"The five Moving Image forms prevail not through strength, but slay through intent-"
"Enter another's heart, burn their Divine Platform, shatter their soul."
Yi Yang stared at those final words, "slay through intent," his gaze sharpening.
Kill through intent.
This already transcended martial arts and approached the realm of supernatural powers.
He suppressed his excitement and continued turning the pages.
Several human figures were drawn in the booklet, their lines tracing intricate networks of meridians, with small annotations beside them explaining the crucial points of circulating divine sense.
As Yi Yang studied those elaborate diagrams and tried to mobilize his Illusion-Breaking divine sense to perceive the true meaning within the ancient book, something suddenly changed.
A buzz rang through his mind.
His vision went black. The nine-foot-tall Golden-Furred Giant Ape in his mind let out a brief roar, but some force seemed to seal off its