Three days passed.
‘What did I mean?’
That was the question I had asked myself.
Alone, I sat in my dorm at the moment, with Feng Qingwu standing outside.
I didn’t want her interfering as I practiced martial arts.
After all, the room was small.
Drip.
Drip.
Glancing down at the dresser, I had accidentally spilled some candle wax.
Drip.
Drip.
Yet I didn’t reach out to put it back; instead, my mind was still stuck on that question.
Looking out the window, I decided to wait for class and then wait for the disciples to challenge.
And so that’s what I did.
Five hours passed.
I went to class and sat on the porch, waiting for the disciples, yet only three were there at the time.
“Hmm, where is everyone else?” I asked coldly.
They still couldn’t look me in the eye.
Just like my brother, they couldn’t face me directly.
“How would we know?”
The bigger one had stepped forward.
In his hand, he held a large sword, one half his size and equal to his weight.
If I had to guess, it was a claymore, but he held it in one hand.
‘Impressive.’
I walked forward, unsheathing my weapon.
“What the hell is that?”
In my hand, I held my new weapon.
You see, Qing Yuru didn’t want me to use your average sword.
She had great hopes for me, so she decided to give me this.
A bone sword, as she liked to call it, crafted within the village just for her, that she is now passing down to me.
This sword was made using the bones of an extremely sturdy beast from the southern wasteland.
I’m not sure which one, but it was said that this beast could withstand attacks even from cultivators, and even its bones couldn’t be grazed by a 5th stars cultivator.
That alone piqued my curiosity.
I decided to take it for myself.
With this weapon, I could deal more damage as well as feed Qiang Qi into the weapon more easily.
It also allowed me to absorb the qi from other attacks.
So, for example, I could feed off the Qiang Qi from another weapon, empowering my own using the sword because it acted like a conduit for qi.
And since it was made from the spine, it was quite long.
I took a deep breath, refusing to answer him.
“Won’t answer, huh?
Whatever…” He dragged his feet on the sand, aiming his blade forward.
“Then die!”
He spoke with strong conviction.
I wondered if he really meant what he said.
‘Well, if he did, it wouldn’t matter.’
I would still beat him in a fight.
The wind lifted as the big one made the first move!
“First Move: Dragon Pulse…” I spoke these words aloud for one reason: confusion.
You see, when doing a technique, you never say the name out loud.
That’s just stupid and unnecessary.
And that is precisely why I said mine out loud.
It made him confused.
Moreover, this is a basic technique, so he should be aware of which umbrella it falls under.
The only thing is…I wasn’t using any technique under that umbrella.
That is the first mistake that many newbie martial artists make.
That is what my father and Qing Yuru had told me.
In a controlled environment, the master always says the names of their technique so the disciple can understand.
I took the first leap, feeding Qiang Qi into my weapon and instead used the technique known as…
[Water Flow Stage 3: Tsunami Knives]
This was a technique I learned from the books.
It utilized the flow of how flexible a blade could be.
It wanted the user to be like water, adaptable, yet majestic.
That is why I did.
I moved like water, maneuvering past the first strike from the big guy.
It actually felt easy to dodge, like he was moving slowly.
I suspect this is because I channeled Qiang Qi into my mind, refining my brain to have better processing power, allowing me to almost see the attacks before they came.
It was like an early step into the 2nd stars, seeing the attacks before they came.
I then brought down my weapon, hitting him with the hilt of my sword to the neck, knocking him down.
That was it.
It was a simple trick, yet one that could decide the fate of a battle.
He assumed wrong and left himself with a lot of openings I could exploit.
Of course, if he were a better martial artist, he could have countered me, but he wasn’t.
He was a D-grade talent after all.
Of course, this was nothing to get happy about.
Why would I?
It won’t matter in the end.
My goal is freedom, and to do that, I need immortality.
Everything else is just a passing moment as I extend my life for years until I reach the heavens!
The other two looked at me, their eyes filled with fear.
I made one step towards them, and they stepped back.
“Tell me, what is Martial Arts?”
One week had passed.
I had spent a week challenging others and asking them this same question.
What was the answer?
I don’t know.
Some said it was to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Some said to perfect your body and mind.
Some said it was to cultivate.
Some said it was to reach the heavens.
Some said it was to prove man-made weapons are just as powerful as god-like ones.
Of course, there were more, but they aligned with at least one or two of the ones I had already thought of.
There was just no straight answer.
Each time I gave Qing Yuru an answer, she made me do pushups, situps, squats, or run around the campus.
I began to question myself.
I had even thrown in what I thought of martial arts because clearly the other ones weren’t working.
I had told her that martial arts was a weapon to overcome all your challenges.
And she told me I was wrong, too!
I just didn’t get it.
The common and more righteous answers didn’t work, and not even mine.
I started to question my thoughts.
Was I really as enlightened as I thought I was?
Did I truly open my eyes to this world and see it for what it was?
I knew I was ignorant of some things, but it seems I wasn’t as enlightened as I first thought.
“No, I wasn’t enlightened in the first place.”
I stood before Qing Yuru, and he had heard me say that.
I didn’t see it, but she had a small smile on her face.
It was almost like she knew exactly what I had been thinking.
“Tell me, Gu Xuanming, what is Martial Arts?”
Silence…
I stood there in silence, unable to answer.
I thought and thought.
I thought hard, trying to come to the truth.
I was starting to feel like everything was collapsing.
I felt like I was in a frenzy!
It reminded me of the past, when I had first realized the truth of the string that bound me and everyone else.
Every day, I was forced to see the strings.
I fell into a depression, locking myself in my room while contemplating my life.
At some point, I had stopped eating for weeks.
I became skinny and fragile.
It’s why my skin is so pale now, permanently.
I even thought death was my only way out; that only through death could I be free of these strings.
Yet what I tried, the thought that this was my fate, had scared me.
I didn’t want to give the heavens what they wanted, so I chose to live!
But as I am now, I was speechless.
One month later.
A month.
A month is how long it took for me to finally come to the realization.
I had asked the same question to everyone, even my own brother.
I was like a broken instrument, constantly repeating the same key over and over again.
Yet after a month of training in martial arts, I learned different techniques and came to rely on their fundamentals.
My eyes were opened.
I now understand the meaning of the question.
When Qing Yuru had asked me, she didn’t want me to answer at all.
Why?
Because there was no answer.
Martial Arts…is nothing.
It is determined by the person who uses it.
So, I told her, “I choose for it to be an art that will allow me to defeat anyone who stands in my way.”
When I had said this, she grinned.
It was the brightest smile that she had ever shown as of late.
It was proof of my answer, and it also allowed me to understand more.
To think that the world I despised was the same world that taught me something crucial.
I had always thought that all these systems were worthless and didn’t matter; that these ideals people hold onto were nothing more than leashes they proudly wore.
Yet here I stood, wearing a unleash I was ignorant of, just like everyone else.
Thanks to Qing Yuru, I could now free myself.
It felt like a sense of enlightenment, unbuckling my leash to be free of the ideal I had clung to.
And with that release, I committed to another duel with my master.
The fight was evenly matched.
I had gained a new understanding and could now use martial arts in my own way!
No longer was I trapped by the manual.
Now I can freely mix them!
This time, it was a draw, and she sheathed her weapon.
“Good job.
You’re ready for the examination.”
“Complete it, and you will be on your way to the adept level of martial arts.”
“Do not fail me.”
She spoke to me with stern, yet convincing words.
Naturally, I was unmoved by such words, but she was right.
I needed to pass this examination in order to inch closer to the advanced level and learn the Three Flowers Dantian technique.
I bowed with a plan and fist, walking away with newfound reasoning.
I will continue to walk the path of a demon.
That will never change.
Not once.
Not ever.
‘But it seems that some people can indeed offer their insight that will allow me to grow.’
‘I will not rely on anyone; instead, I shall use their information to further myself.
I will play their game and make them reveal more to me.
I can surpass them and grow even more.’
‘How vile.’
The last thing I had done before the examination was a smirk, malevolent aura leaving my body with each step I made.
I was ready to suppress anyone who stood in my way!