“He… he actually won?”
Wu Ming had acted so swiftly that Lin Xinlan couldn’t even react.
Once she saw Miaoniang retreat, she immediately cried out, “Hero, please quickly subdue that demoness!”
“I have no grudge or enmity with her. Breaking one of her arms and driving her away is sufficient punishment…”
Wu Ming turned around and curiously examined Lin Xinlan.
Only then did Lin Xinlan notice her own appearance, and she blushed involuntarily, still shouting, “If she leaks any information, we will all face tremendous trouble. The entire martial world…”
“Stop! That’s your problem, not mine. Please don’t lump them together!”
Wu Ming leisurely approached Lin Xinlan and looked down at her, saying, “Now… it’s time to discuss the issue of payment. That painting, the ‘Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains,’ will you hand it over or not?”
“What?”
Lin Xinlan was momentarily stunned, feeling as if she had barely escaped from the wolf’s den only to fall into the tiger’s mouth.
“If not, did you think I came here just to play the hero and rescue a beauty? Equal exchange, borrowing must be repaid. That’s the way to maintain balance! I saved you, so naturally, I should receive some reward. What do you think, young lady?”
Wu Ming said matter-of-factly.
He indeed had a strong interest in the advanced martial arts techniques of this world. As the saying goes, “Stones from other hills may serve to polish jade.” If he could obtain some secret martial arts manuals from this world and use their strengths to complement his own weaknesses, it might help pave the way for martial cultivation in the Great Zhou world.
Moreover, although he could use his Heavenly Immortal powers in this world, the energy consumption was too great.
To integrate into this world and decipher its rules, naturally he should start by studying the most fundamental force principles first.
“You… you are taking advantage of your kindness for personal gain!”
Lin Xinlan pouted, feeling that Wu Ming’s words were all sophistry, but she couldn’t find any reason to refute him, so she could only accuse him.
“Hmm… if the young lady refuses, then forget it!”
Wu Ming smiled mischievously, instantly making Lin Xinlan feel a chill run down her spine and her heart grow cold.
Suddenly, she realized that the man standing before her was a martial expert, while her acupoints were still sealed, leaving her powerless. Even if the worst-case scenario didn’t happen, if he simply abandoned her, she would still be in serious trouble.
“The massacre of my entire family—how can I not seek revenge? I can’t die now!”
Lin Xinlan wavered for a moment before finally saying, “You want the Lin family’s treasure? Fine… as long as you help me avenge my blood feud, I will present the ‘Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains’ painting to you, and I will also willingly become your servant, devoting myself to repay you!”
“You… a servant?”
Unexpectedly, the young man merely looked at her and then shook his head, the overwhelming sense of “you’re not worthy” greatly hurting the young girl’s pride, almost making her nose flare in anger.
“Fine…”
After teasing her enough, Wu Ming smiled slightly, “Perhaps in your mind… the favor of saving your life still isn’t worth more than the family treasure. Then I’ll change the condition. Take me to the nearest town, and give me a certain amount of money. I’ve just arrived in your area and need a guide…”
Lin Xinlan blinked her eyes, wondering why this young man suddenly became so accommodating.
Undoubtedly, this condition was much more lenient and acceptable.
“No! This must be his scheme!”
A voice roared in Lin Xinlan’s mind, but then a distant howl of a wolf made her face turn pale: “Do I really have a choice?”
“It seems not!” Wu Ming honestly replied.
“Deal!”
Lin Xinlan gritted her teeth and said. She glanced at Wu Ming, her face blushing slightly again: “Young sir… may I ask you to unseal my acupoints first?”
“Acupoints?”
To her surprise, the young hero who had driven away Miaoniang looked at her innocently: “Well… I don’t know how, young lady. Would you mind teaching me a bit?”
…
The sun was setting in the west.
On a somewhat shabby official road, a young man and woman walked one after the other.
The woman in front said, “Following this path for another half hour or so, we’ll reach Boyang City. This city is the capital of Xingwu Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of the Sanyang Sect…”
She was as beautiful as a flower, her eyes looking at the young man filled with resentment, her cheeks still flushed pink.
“The Sanyang Sect? Please tell me more about them…”
Wu Ming, however, seemed completely unaware and continued asking casually.
Meanwhile, he was still savoring the experience gained from releasing the acupoints earlier: “Acupoints, meridians… the martial arts of this world are indeed very different from those of the Great Zhou world…”
Although he had learned the basic principles of this world’s rules and developed a profound inner energy, he had never practiced any martial arts manual from this world. It was like having ammunition but no firearms. Naturally, he didn’t know anything about releasing acupoints.
Of course, if he used his Heavenly Immortal powers, everything would be easily resolved.
But how could such a common girl be worth that? Besides, he was also eager to explore the secrets of martial arts in this world, so he pretended to be a clueless fool, letting the girl guide him.
After a rather intimate session of guiding the inner energy through the meridians, the young girl, named Lin Xinlan, finally regained her freedom, though she had also suffered quite a bit of molestation. No wonder she looked at Wu Ming with such resentment.
“He must have done that on purpose…”
Lin Xinlan glared at Wu Ming, as if she wanted to bite a piece of him: “He clearly has such profound inner energy, how could he possibly not know martial arts? It was all just an excuse to… to take advantage of me…”
However, she had experienced the massacre of her entire family and was no ordinary sheltered girl. Her eyes flickered: “But if he wanted to do whatever he pleased, he had such a perfect opportunity back then… No! He must have deliberately pretended to be kind, hoping to seize the Lin family’s treasure!”
“The Sanyang Sect? Could you tell me more about them?”
Wu Ming smiled with interest. Seeing Lin Xinlan’s expression, he added, “Don’t forget, you still have to repay your debt of gratitude…”
Lin Xinlan gritted her teeth in anger, but ultimately, she was a woman of integrity and honor, a true martial artist who kept her word. She immediately said, “The Sanyang Sect is the most powerful martial arts school in Xingwu Prefecture, with thirty thousand outer disciples and thousands of accomplished inner disciples. The sect leader, ‘Burning Yang Hand’ Ding Jiao, is a famous martial artist on the Earth Yuan List, renowned far and wide!”
“The Earth Yuan List?”
Hearing a new term, Wu Ming immediately asked.
“You don’t even know about the Earth Yuan List?”
Lin Xinlan looked at Wu Ming with deep suspicion: “Who exactly are you? Could it be that you crawled out from some deep mountain?”
“As for me…”
Wu Ming smiled and replied, “I guess you could say I’m a Taoist priest!”
“Hmph! Pretending to be a deity! Not a man of virtue!”
Lin Xinlan snorted coldly.
In this world, the path of immortality was suppressed. Except for someone like Wu Ming, a Heavenly Immortal, ordinary Taoist techniques could only conjure up flames or create illusions, their power limited. They were far inferior to martial arts. As a result, the image of Taoist priests was quite low. Except for those who practiced inherited health techniques and martial arts, other Taoist priests were seen by martial artists as nothing more than charlatans obsessed with alchemy and transmutation.
“Miss Lin, you haven’t answered my question yet!”
Wu Ming reminded her.
“This is a classification made by martial artists, listing martial artists who have reached the Earth Yuan level and above, famous throughout the land!”
“Oh? If there’s an Earth Yuan List, there should be other rankings above and below it?”
“Above the Earth Yuan List is the Heaven Manifestation List. Those who make it onto this list are all mighty martial artists with boundless supernatural abilities. It is said that when they fight, thunder and lightning accompany them, with strange phenomena appearing. Ordinary martial artists, even with an army, would be no match for them… And above that, the Divine Demon List is merely a legend, having vanished since the era of the Martial Emperor…”
Seeing that Wu Ming truly knew nothing, Lin Xinlan explained, “Below the Earth Yuan List is the Heroic List, which includes three hundred and sixty-five people across the land. Those who make it onto this list have already established their reputations in the martial world… Within the Sanyang Sect, besides the sect leader Ding Jiao, who ranks seventy-ninth on the Earth Yuan List, there are also eight elders on the Heroic List, which is why they can dominate Xingwu Prefecture…”
“Divine Demon, Heaven Manifestation, Earth Yuan, Heroic…”
Wu Ming’s eyes flickered with thought: “So this is how martial artists are classified. Of course, from the girl’s description, only those who have reached the Earth Yuan level can be listed on the Earth Yuan List, but the Heroic List is purely based on combat power…”
“Your inner energy is strong…”
At this moment, Lin Xinlan looked at Wu Ming, her eyes flashing with sharpness: “If you were to learn a supreme martial arts technique, you might even have the chance to enter the Heroic List and gain fame and fortune!”
“Heroic? Fame and fortune? Haha…”
A disdainful smile appeared on Wu Ming’s lips.
He hadn’t seen how strong an Earth Yuan level martial artist was yet, but a Heaven Manifestation level martial artist could summon thunder and lightning and display strange phenomena with just one move. Although it was only within a small range, it was still far superior to the Martial Sage of the Great Zhou world. Perhaps they could be called Level Five martial artists?
Not to mention, above the Heaven Manifestation level, there were still martial artists at the Divine Demon level!
“A unique martial arts civilization system… This world is indeed interesting!”
“What do you think?”
Lin Xinlan bit her lip, seemingly making a big decision: “As long as you help me take revenge, I can teach you martial arts! The supreme martial arts of my Lin family!”
“Hmm… I wonder if Miss Lin could have defeated that Miaoniang before?”
Wu Ming asked in a rather unimpressed tone.
“I couldn’t!” If she could have truly defeated Miaoniang, Lin Xinlan wouldn’t have ended up in that situation.
“Did that Miaoniang make it onto the Heroic List?”
Lin Xinlan’s face turned as red as blood: “No!”
Faced with Wu Ming’s two questions, even she felt too embarrassed to continue the topic, struggling to say, “My ancestors from the Lin family once had martial artists who reached the Earth Yuan level. My defeat is due to my own inadequacy, not related to the family’s martial arts…”
“Hmm…”
Wu Ming yawned and casually hummed in response.
In his mind, he now had a general understanding. In this world, before reaching the Earth Yuan level, martial artists all focused on cultivating inner energy, accumulating their inner power. Although extraordinary martial arts techniques could help defeat stronger opponents, the foundation was still inner energy.
The more profound one’s inner energy, the faster one could learn martial arts and the more miraculous effects even ordinary techniques could produce. Conversely, weak inner energy would make progress difficult and techniques less effective. Lin Xinlan’s weak inner energy and unstable foundation clearly placed her in the latter category.
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