Origins of the Secret Technique

The people who complained did not know that the elder who had created this sword technique had once possessed profound cultivation. During a jianghu fight in the prime of his life, an opponent had unwittingly crippled his cultivation, leaving him forever unable to cultivate internal True Qi.

Fearing a drastic fall in his standing within the sect, the elder told no one. Instead, he began acting as though his martial arts had advanced greatly and become unfathomable, fooling everyone in the sect, high and low.

But the fact remained that he no longer had the strength to protect himself. From then on, he stayed in seclusion and rarely ventured out. Thanks to his exceptional wit, no one ever discovered the truth.

That was the Seven Mysteries Sect's golden age, when it held sway over Jing Province.

When the elder realized that his cultivation truly could not be restored, he fell into despair. Using the authority he held, he secretly sent his subordinates to launch surprise attacks on many obscure, hidden minor sects, keeping the other people in power in the dark.

From these sects, he forcibly seized many martial arts manuals that could not be shown in the light of day, hoping to find a supreme martial art that could be used without internal force.

After several years of plundering, he did find many incredible secret techniques, but none of them suited him.

He was bitterly disappointed.

The elder was also a man of immense talent and exceptional intellect. In his despondency, he conceived the idea of using the many secret techniques in his possession to create a supreme art tailored to himself.

The thought set his heart racing. Creating a unique martial art was every martial artist's lifelong dream. From then on, there was no stopping him. He threw himself into the task, researching and testing his various ideas. At last, fearing that worldly affairs would entangle him, he even went into secluded cultivation and stopped concerning himself with the sect's struggles in the outside world.

Creating a martial art was an extraordinarily difficult undertaking. All the more so when the art he wanted to create faced such severe constraints: it had to be usable without True Qi, encompass numerous secret techniques, and become a profound, supreme martial art.

The hardship of creating this unprecedented martial technique far exceeded his expectations. But he was also a man of great perseverance, and after pouring his heart and blood into it for nearly half his life, through a long process that took decades from beginning to end, the Blinking Sword Manual was finally born.

The elder was overjoyed. But when he excitedly went to share the good news with the others in the sect, having just mastered his martial art, he was shocked to discover that the Seven Mysteries Sect had fallen into utter decline. The entire sect was under siege by numerous gangs large and small, in danger of being wiped out at any moment.

The elder, now in his sixties, was both shocked and furious. At this critical moment, he unleashed his might with the strange sword technique he had just mastered, killing numerous powerful enemies in succession and intimidating the many experts who remained. He forcibly carved a bloody path through the encirclement, allowing the Seven Mysteries Sect to break out, and rendered a monumental service to its survival.

Sadly, no sooner had they escaped danger than the elder reached the end of his life. He passed away, leaving only the instruction that the sword manual into which he had poured his heart and blood be placed in the Seven Ultimates Hall.

More regrettable still, in the years that followed, not a single disciple among the younger generations had tried to cultivate this art before Han Li. The pearl had remained buried in dust, never seeing the light of day.

Han Li knew nothing of these past events. In fact, even if he had known, he would not have been moved. To him, it was enough that the sword technique suited him and might let him keep his life in Doctor Mo's hands. As for where it came from or who had created it, Han Li had no interest whatsoever. He was a practical person and would not bother learning about anything that brought him no benefit.

In his room, Han Li lit an oil lamp and leaned over the wooden table, continuing to leaf through the manuals one by one in its dim light.

He did not intend to actually copy the manuals. Instead, he planned to rely on his extraordinary memory to commit every last one of them to mind. That way, they would be safe from loss, and he would not have to worry about word getting out.

After all, he remained highly wary of Doctor Mo and was not foolish enough to believe the man was not watching him at all. If so many copies of manuals appeared in his room, wouldn't everything be exposed, putting Doctor Mo on guard against him in advance?

The orange-yellow flame gave a pop as a small crust formed on the wick, reminding Han Li that a long time had passed and he should get some rest soon.

But Han Li paid it no heed. He was completely immersed in the world of the manuals, the strange techniques in the books holding his full attention.

As the crusts on the wick cracked one after another, the figure reflected on the wall swayed ceaselessly, growing larger and smaller. Han Li himself, however, remained seated without moving an inch. The motion and stillness formed an eerie contrast, yet gave an observer a strangely harmonious feeling.

Time passed, a quarter of an hour at a time. The shadow behind Han Li gradually faded from sharp to hazy, then slowly vanished altogether. Outside, the sky had grown bright.

Without realizing it, Han Li had spent the entire night reading in rapt fascination.

With a pop, the last large crust on the wick burst, and the oil lamp went out completely. Han Li was finally startled out of his reading.

He looked up at the lamp, then glanced at the light outside the window and gave a bitter smile inwardly.

He had never expected that a day would come when he would be so absorbed in studying techniques for killing. He truly was very different from the person he had once been.

Han Li reflected on this for quite a while before standing up. He twisted his neck and stretched his arms and legs, making the joints throughout his body crack. Then he turned, pushed open the door, and went outside. He drew a basin of cool water from a nearby deep well and washed his face thoroughly, refreshing himself. He then circulated the Eternal Spring Art once through his body, and all the weariness of the night vanished without a trace.

After a whole night of reading and study, Han Li knew that thoroughly mastering this martial art would be out of the question without eight or ten years of hard practice. Even with exceptional talent in this area, it would take him two or three years to achieve a modest level of mastery.

But time waited for no one!