The voice of the other spy was unfamiliar to Han Li; he was certain he had never met this person before. Judging by the tone, the speaker seemed relatively young, likely in his early twenties.
Unfortunately, for safety reasons, Han Li didn’t dare sneak a glance. He feared that these two might possess refined martial skills and sense his prying eyes, thereby detecting an outsider nearby—a risk not worth taking.
After this incident, the rest of the journey proceeded uneventfully.
Han Li finally returned to his residence long after dinner time.
As usual, Physician Mo showed no interest in Han Li’s mysterious comings and goings. Apart from delivering prepared medicines, he paid little attention to Han Li’s actions, leaving him entirely to his own devices.
If not for the fact that the medicines Physician Mo provided were concocted from rare herbs collected during Han Li’s last trip down the mountain, he might have suspected that the physician had given up on him and was plotting something sinister.
Now, Han Li had completely lost interest in the so-called precious medicines Physician Mo delivered. However, to avoid raising suspicion, he still held his nose and consumed them.
He wasn’t afraid of the medicines being laced with poison—harming Han Li would ultimately harm Physician Mo himself.
As for the Wild Wolf Gang spies he encountered on the road, Han Li had already devised a clever way to handle the situation on his way back.
Although he didn’t have deep affection for the Seven Mysteries Sect, he was, after all, a half-inner disciple. He couldn’t simply turn a blind eye to threats against the sect happening right under his nose.
Moreover, he had already found the perfect person to handle this matter—Senior Disciple Li Feiyu.
Based on Han Li’s observations, perhaps due to consuming the “Marrow Extraction Pill,” Li Feiyu was more ambitious than most, craving fame and fortune. He dreamed of climbing high within the Seven Mysteries Sect and becoming a prominent figure.
Han Li suspected that Li Feiyu wanted to make his remaining time as dazzling and spectacular as possible.
Now, by delivering such a significant merit right to his doorstep, Han Li was sure Li Feiyu would be overjoyed. This would also repay the great favor Li Feiyu had done by obtaining the sword manual for him.
The mere thought of the “Blinking Sword Art” filled Han Li with excitement.
He hadn’t lied to his friend about the manual—it truly wasn’t suitable for Li Feiyu to practice. However, Han Li had omitted many details.
For him, keeping a few secrets from everyone was an unbreakable rule of survival. Even those who seemed closest to him were no exception.
That said, the techniques recorded in these manuals were vastly different from ordinary martial arts.
In Han Li’s view, it was less a sword style and more a sword technique—a comprehensive assassination art that integrated timing, terrain, and human factors. It was an exceptionally rare, purely lethal skill designed to kill with a single strike.
The manuals detailed various techniques for delivering fatal blows in different environments and at different times, utilizing meticulously trained secret sword moves.
It taught practitioners to use every blade of grass and tree in their surroundings, as well as variations in light and shadow, to create visual illusions for their opponents. The goal was to seize the enemy’s weakness in an instant, see through their flaws, and strike them down in a flash.
This was an extremely technique-intensive secret art. Without innate talent, it was impossible to fully comprehend and master.
Therefore, only those with exceptionally sharp senses—superior vision, hearing, and beyond ordinary human limits—could hope to achieve success in practicing this technique.
If these were the only requirements, some disciples might still be tempted by its power to take it up.
However, what made it even more challenging was another stringent requirement: practitioners of this technique must not possess refined internal energy. Otherwise, the conflict with the force application methods would render cultivation exceedingly difficult.
Even if one miraculously succeeded, during actual combat, excessive internal energy would unconsciously distort the sword moves, leaving openings for opponents and inviting fatal disaster.
This condition essentially deterred most aspiring practitioners. After all, the martial world had a saying: “Practicing fists without cultivating internal energy leads to emptiness in the end.”
To them, neglecting internal energy cultivation was a major taboo. Abandoning their true energy training for this obscure sword art would make them a laughingstock in the martial world.
Thus, only a handful of people remained interested in practicing it.
But even if these individuals were talented and had no issues with internal energy, one final obstacle thoroughly discouraged them from pursuing it further—the overwhelmingly vast and complex nature of the techniques and their intricate application conditions.
Just looking at the thick stack of manuals in the bundle was enough to intimidate most people.
Essentially, each manual represented a single sword technique, and each technique was broken down into hundreds of variations. Each variation required mastery under different environments and timing conditions, with numerous nuanced details to consider.
The sheer volume of techniques was daunting—not just to practice, but even to read and memorize, let alone comprehend and apply.
These absurdly demanding conditions had discouraged countless disciples interested in learning this sword art, leading them to silently curse the elder who created it.
Over time, the Seven Mysteries Sect gradually lost interest in the sword art, believing it impossible for anyone to master it. Many speculated that the elder had fabricated it on his deathbed—otherwise, why would the cultivation requirements be so outrageous? It seemed deliberately designed to frustrate uninformed disciples. Thus, these manuals were left gathering dust on the shelves, forgotten by all.
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