Since he did so well in the martial arts test and quickly beat the bully Li San, Xiao Wuchen was the top dog in the top-tier courtyard. He put these arguments to one side and started training in martial arts more seriously. His two secret manuals – the "Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha" sword technique and the "Flying Swallow Through the Willow" lightness skill – were the most important to him at this stage. After doing his daily chores, Xiao Wuchen would go back to his small room. He didn't have a sword, so he used his fingers instead. He practised the moves he would have used with the sword, using the willow trees in the courtyard as his target. "System, speed up the process of improving 'Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha'!" He had already used Martial Arts Refinement to perfect his sword technique, but that was just in theory. To use it in actual combat, he still needed a lot of physical memory and coordination of his internal energy. After the system was switched on, Xiao Wuchen appeared to enter a space-time that was flowing much faster than normal. He was completely focused on swordsmanship, and each move he made, from "Buddha's Light Appears" to "A Smile While Plucking a Flower," was fluid and elegant. He could feel his inner strength growing stronger with every move, like a hidden iron flower, strong but also fast. At the same time, he never stopped training his lightness skill. "The 'Flying Swallow Through the Willow' is all about being as graceful as a startled swan, with smooth, light, and agile movements. It helps you avoid attacks and is also great for killing enemies." He practised his footwork by using the plum blossom stakes in the courtyard. People often only achieve 'speed' when they practise this lightness skill, but he built on the foundation of 'flying willow catkins' to cultivate lightness and softness. He walked quietly, as if he was floating on air.
He walked quietly, like a real swallow flying through the leaves of a willow tree, without causing the slightest sway. In just seven days, he reached a new level in both martial arts because of his experience. Martial Arts: "Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha" (Basic Sword Technique) "Flying Swallow Through Willows" (Basic Lightness Skill) Level: The Mortal Realm is divided into three levels. Master of the beyond
Right now, even Xiao Wuchen's simple step had a rhythm that was impossible to describe, and he already moved like a grandmaster.
A Chance Encounter in the Middle of the Night
One night, Xiao Wuchen was practising his martial arts alone in an open space deep within the courtyard. He was gathering the essence of the moon to improve his "Purple Qi " technique. This would help him to consolidate his newly improved cultivation level.
Just as he finished his practice and got ready to go back to his room, he heard a quiet step. The sound was as light as a cat's footsteps; if he didn't have his advanced internal energy, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.
He hid behind an old tree.
A grey-robed old eunuch with a hunched back walked slowly into the courtyard through a side gate. The old eunuch had his hands tied behind his back, and he walked slowly, as if he were taking a stroll.
Xiao Wuchen immediately recognised him—he was one of the high-ranking but rarely seen martial arts masters of the Rootless Sect, known as the "Gray-Robed Elder".
The Grey-Robed Elder stopped in the middle of the courtyard, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and then sighed gently.
"I haven't seen such pure inner energy for years. I thought this group had been corrupted by restlessness."
His voice, though old, was strong and clear.
Xiao Wuchen felt shocked when he realised that he had let some of his inner energy escape during his cultivation. He was surprised that this simple elder had noticed. He didn't reveal himself too quickly, waiting for the elder's next move.
All of a sudden, the grey-robed elder spoke quietly to the old locust tree where Xiao Wuchen was hiding. "Come out, boy. You can't trick me with your little tricks of concealment."
A Chance Encounter in the Middle of the Night
One night, Xiao Wuchen was practising his martial arts alone in an open space deep within the courtyard. He was gathering the essence of the moon to improve his "Purple Qi Comes from the East" technique. This would help him to consolidate his newly improved cultivation level.
Just as he finished his practice and got ready to go back to his room, he heard a quiet step. The sound was as light as a cat's footsteps; if he didn't have his advanced internal energy, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.
He hid behind an old tree.
A grey-robed old eunuch with a hunched back walked slowly into the courtyard through a side gate. The old eunuch had his hands tied behind his back, and he walked slowly, as if he were taking a stroll.
Xiao Wuchen immediately recognised him—he was one of the high-ranking but rarely seen martial arts masters of the Rootless Sect, known as the "Gray-Robed Elder".
The Grey-Robed Elder stopped in the middle of the courtyard, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and then sighed gently.
"I haven't seen such pure inner energy for years. I thought this group had been corrupted by restlessness."
His voice, though old, was strong and clear.
Xiao Wuchen felt shocked when he realised that he had let some of his inner energy escape during his cultivation. He was surprised that this simple elder had noticed. He didn't reveal himself too quickly, waiting for the elder's next move.
All of a sudden, the grey-robed elder spoke quietly to the old locust tree where Xiao Wuchen was hiding. "Come out, boy. You can't trick me with your little tricks of concealment."
The brightly coloured Buddha flowers... Xiao Wuchen knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He didn't give up; his energy flowed through his body, and he started running straight away!
He used the lightness and agility of the "Flying Swallow Through Willows" to its limit, his figure like the wind, rapidly circling the grey-robed elder, searching for an opening. He didn't dare use the most powerful attack of "Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha", but instead used the fastest "Offering Flowers Before the Buddha" technique over and over again.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
His fingers moved quickly through the air, creating a net of sword energy that covered the vital points of the grey-robed elder.
The grey-robed elder stood still, smiling.
"He moves quickly and can turn quickly, but he doesn't seem very determined to kill!"
Faced with the rain of sword fingers, the grey-robed elder just waved his hand; his palm, filled with a powerful inner force, formed an invisible barrier. All of Xiao Wuchen's attacks disappeared the moment they got within three feet of him, as if sinking into the sea.
This was because they were at different levels in their cultivation.
Seeing that his brute force wasn't working, Xiao Wuchen quickly understood what he needed to do. He knew that he couldn't just go for speed; he had to focus on getting the most out of his internal energy and breaking through his opponent's defences.
He breathed in deeply, paused, and focused all the energy from his Purple Qi Comes from the East technique into his right fingertip. He used the idea of "Flowers Bloom to Reveal the Buddha"—or "a fleeting bloom"—in this strike.
He roared, took his most steady step, and with a determined look, hit the other person with his finger as hard as he could!
Flowers bloom and reveal the Buddha!
This simple finger strike was very dangerous. It was like a real sword tip, and it went straight towards the grey-robed elder.
Martial Arts Inheritance
The old man in the grey robe walked over to Xiao Wuchen and helped him up.
"I keep my promises. You are good at swordsmanship but not very good at using lightness skills, which you only use for dodging."
"I will teach you a real movement technique called 'Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow'. This technique is not only light and easy to do, but it also lets you focus your inner energy in the soles of your feet, so that no trace of it is left on the snow. You can change direction instantly when attacking an enemy; it is a perfect advancement of 'Flying Swallow Through Willows'."
He didn't give Xiao Wuchen the manual, but instead touched his brow with his finger.
Xiao Wuchen suddenly felt like he knew everything there was to know about martial arts!
[System Notification]: You have obtained the advanced lightness skill 'Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow'! Proficiency: 1%.
"Go back and work hard. I will come to test you again in a month. Your path is still long."
With that, the grey-robed old man turned and disappeared into the night, leaving Xiao Wuchen standing there, shocked, his heart beating quickly.
He knew that this older person had chosen him. In the Rootless Sect, he finally had a truly powerful supporter.
Xu Gonggong's words were like sharp icicles, piercing Xiao Wuchen's heart deeply. He returned to his room, unable to calm down for a long time. The elder's words about 'abandoning good intentions' and the system's warning about 'conflict of goodness' confirmed the same cruel truth: he had to become depraved to gain power.
In search of hope, Xiao Wuchen secretly began to study the ancient, cryptic texts and manuscripts collected within the Rootless Sect. While these books mostly recorded the rise to power of high-ranking eunuchs within the sect, the truths revealed between the lines were chilling.
Meanwhile, he tried to uncover the deeper history of the Rootless Sect through subtle inquiries with his close friend, Xiao Guizi. He discovered that every eunuch who had reached the highest level of the 'Purple Qi Comes from the East' technique, wielding immense power, had achieved success through appalling cruelty, purges and bloody massacres. It wasn't just for power that they committed evil; their evil deeds seemed to be driven by a desire to break through the limitations of their cultivation methods.
'Is this path truly only traversable by demons?' Xiao Wuchen's fingertips trembled slightly as he closed a manuscript detailing over a dozen massacres of entire sects.
Suddenly, the system panel in front of him vibrated violently and emitted a piercing buzzing sound. Amidst the distortion of light and shadow, a brand new functional module was unlocked and presented before him in black and white, exuding a chilling sense of destiny. Module Name: Attribute: Current Value: Source: Description: [Merit Points]: Harmony: Good Intentions: Source: Correcting Cultivation Techniques, Saving Oneself (Initial System Correction, Not Actively Acquired by the Host)
[Evil Deeds Points]
Defying Heaven, Evil Intentions
Source: Committing Evil, Slaughter, Violating Harmony (Accumulated by the Active Behaviour of the Host).
Those ten merit points were perhaps traces left by the system correcting its own mistakes when he first entered the Rootless Sect, symbolising a faint glimmer of life. The cold 0 evil deeds points, however, foreshadowed a blank canvas ready to be stained with blood at any moment. Immediately afterwards, the system notification popped up again. This time, it didn't issue a warning but presented two completely different paths to power: [Detected strong desire for breakthrough among the host.]
Two paths are provided to aid in upgrading your martial arts technique: The Path of Heaven: Use pure 'merit' to cleanse the technique of its malevolent energy, resist the rejection of Heaven's laws and seek an essential sublimation of martial arts. Upgrade success rate: 1% (extremely difficult; requires a large amount of merit). The Path Against Heaven: Use "evil deeds" to complement "yin and softness", fully aligning with the "ultimate evil" requirement of Purple Qi, forcibly breaking through bottlenecks. Upgrade success rate: Increases with evil deeds. (Currently 0%)
Xiao Wuchen clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Although 1% and 0% seemed indistinguishable, 1% represented at least a glimmer of hope, whereas 0% represented infinite possibilities — provided he was willing to pay the price in blood. He craved power because he knew that, in a place like the Rootless Sect, lacking power meant being at the mercy of others. However, he was even more reluctant to become a bloodthirsty demon. He looked at the cold, hard 0% on his Evil Deeds Value, then at the faint 1% on the Path of Heaven. 'If I choose the path against the heavens, can I retain a shred of humanity? If I choose the path of Heaven, how can I obtain a vast amount of merit?' Xiao Wuchen closed his eyes. He realised that the system had handed him the choice completely. From this moment on, his martial arts path would lead him to a crossroads filled with bloodshed or despair — he had to make a choice.