Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 408 - 362: Good at Fighting!

Chapter 408: Chapter 362: Good at Fighting!

East District.

Wu Xiaode was squatting on the eaves, nibbling on a piece of baked flatbread.

"You’re far less powerful than that Dragon, so don’t brag until you can get your hands on some Dragon Blood," said the woman in the mask as they were parting.

—She gave herself a push, and she immediately returned to the world of the living.

It seems she didn’t believe in him at all.

Wu Xiaode sighed and murmured, "Full-screen attack, kill all the demons here."

The bronze One-eyed Giant landed with a boom and charged towards the demon horde.

As it ran, it eventually released a heaven-reaching deep red glow deep within the monster crowd.

—Senluo Wanxiang!

All demons touched by the light turned into burning skeletons, dead on the spot.

Ma San put down his flatbread and quickly crouched down, saying:

"Brother Wu, that Dragon is coming again, let’s get out of here fast!"

"Let’s go."

Wu Xiaode also put away his flatbread and let Ma San carry him on his back.

In the blink of an eye, the two men crossed the long streets, arriving at the West City Gate in just a few breaths.

—They had crossed the entire great city.

Looking back, they saw the Dragon indeed already appearing in the sky over the East District.

"Damn kid, watch me turn you to ashes!" roared the Dragon in midair.

It spewed a sea of green fire towards the location of the One-eyed Giant.

A few breaths.

Within a few miles around, everything turned to ash.

Wu Xiaode stood atop the city wall, not panicked at all, and even took out his flatbread to nibble on a couple of bites.

"Brother Wu, based on our battle experiences these past few times, it needs to rest for three minutes before it can spew that green fire again," Ma San thought aloud.

Wu Xiaode nodded, "Which means, its skill has a cooldown time of three minutes—"

"Let’s hurry and clean up the demons here again."

"...Brother Wu, actually, I need to rest too," Ma San said with a pained expression.

Wu Xiaode was surprised and then laughed, saying:

"Ah? Haha, sorry, I forgot you’ve been running around carrying me this whole time."

He squinted and looked toward the city center.

There weren’t many demons left on the streets.

After a fierce slaughter a moment ago, the demons were no longer able to muster a complete troop.

In this situation, they were no longer able to pursue the retreating human army.

The concern that Zhao Congnan had was no longer existent.

After a moment of thought, Ma San simply walked over to an open area on the city wall and said:

"Brother Wu, I see you have powerful Divine Skills but haven’t learned any Stepping Skills in combat, so why not learn my Hundred-mile Illusion Body Step."

Wu Xiaode was taken aback and also stood up, "Isn’t that Stepping Skill your signature move?"

"It was taught to me by an old soldier who recruited me into the army. Now I’m passing it to you, hoping it will give you more methods in future battles," Ma San said.

"You are just passing it to me like that?" Wu Xiaode couldn’t help but ask.

"You should teach others what you know, not only to enhance the strength of our Human Race but also to spread the glory of martial arts. Otherwise, what happens if these martial arts one day get lost?" Ma San said with a big smile.

Wu Xiaode was silent for a few breaths, and then bowed with his fists, "Thank you, Brother Ma."

"What’s there to thank for? My life was saved by you. Just watch—" Ma San shook his legs, took up a stance on the open field, and began speaking non-stop:

"What’s the most important thing about movement and stepping skills? It’s ’preparing to dash through a gap’. You have to foresee every gap and ready your steps to move through those gaps..."

As he spoke, he demonstrated the techniques.

About half an hour later.

"I’ve taught you all the techniques—do you have any questions?" Ma San asked.

Wu Xiaode shook his head.

The techniques he was taught weren’t that complicated, and combined with the base knowledge from over a hundred years of cultivation in martial arts, he understood the various technical points as soon as he heard them explained.

—The time in the martial arts hall had laid an incredibly solid foundation for his future.

Ma San gave a thumbs-up, quite impressed, "You’re amazing, Brother Wu. When I first heard it, I didn’t get it after several times. I finally took the manual and read each word in the dictionary to understand its meaning. Only then did I grasp this Stepping Skill."

"Does this Stepping Skill consume a lot of energy?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"When you use this skill, it consumes 3 points of Soul Power each time, so you need to calculate your Soul Power well," Ma San warned seriously.

Wu Xiaode glanced at his own Soul Power.

"Current Soul Power: 48/48."

Among this Soul Power, he had taken four pages from the Book of the Dead, thus gaining a total of four points of Eternal Soul Power.

Theoretically, he could infinitely use the "Hundred-mile Illusion Body Step."

But muscles do get fatigued.

So he couldn’t be too complacent.

"Let me give it a try."

Wu Xiaode stood in the open area, attempting to use the Stepping Skill.

At first, he was clumsy, using both hands and feet, and fell to the ground several times.

But with Ma San’s guidance and his own constant reflection and practice, around two hours later, he could barely execute the Stepping Skill.

"It’s getting dark, we should head back, Brother Wu."

"Yeah, let’s go."

The two stopped practicing and jumped down from the city wall together.

This time Wu Xiaode didn’t need Ma San to carry him; they moved across rooftops and through alleys side by side, feeling the Stepping Skill becoming increasingly familiar and agile.

By the time they arrived at the flatbread shop, Zhao Congnan was already waiting at the door.

"General, is there a matter?"

Wu Xiaode bowed with his hands clasped together.

"Thanks to you going through the city and fighting today, the demons have missed their opportunity to chase down our main forces. Our mission is complete," Zhao Congnan said.

"So that means—"

"We should retreat from here as well, leave the city, and try to catch up with the main army,"

Upon hearing this, delight surfaced on everyone’s faces.

Staying in this desolate city, there was no visible path to survival.

Now that the officer had declared the mission complete and decided to depart, everyone naturally raised both hands in agreement.

The group quickly packed up their gear, ready to set out under cover of darkness.

"Do you two still have the strength to travel?"

Zhao Congnan asked Wu Xiaode and Ma San.

"General, don’t worry, Ma San has taught me the Hundred-mile Illusion Body Step," Wu Xiaode said.

Zhao Congnan’s eyebrows twitched as he turned to Ma San, "He learned it?"

Ma San nodded with admiration, "Brother Wu has quite a talent for cultivating martial arts. He understood every technique I explained and basically mastered the Hundred-mile Illusion Body Step after practicing for an afternoon."

Zhao Congnan fell deep into thought.

The rest exchanged puzzled glances, uncertain what he was considering.

"We are not leaving tonight," Zhao Congnan suddenly said.

"My lord, what’s happened? Why are we not leaving now?" Sun Qian couldn’t help but ask.

"Ma San, Sun Qian, you two stand guard outside the secret chamber. Little Wu, you come with me," he instructed.

Zhao Congnan patted Wu Xiaode on the shoulder, signaling him to follow back into the secret chamber.

Wu Xiaode was puzzled; glancing at Ma San, he saw a similar look of confusion.

However, Sun Qian seemed to understand something.

"Go ahead, the officer has his orders—it’s probably to honor you," Sun Qian said to Wu Xiaode, winking.

Wu Xiaode then entered the secret chamber only to find Zhao Congnan standing with his hands behind his back, as if in recollection.

"General," Wu Xiaode bowed.

Zhao Congnan began, "When you saved us before, I had the chance to observe the abilities of you three. Sun Qian’s sword skill and Ma San’s movement technique are quite extraordinary, amongst the best of the soldiers, as for you—"

"Little Wu, aside from your Divine Skills, you have no remarkable abilities, but the firm foundation of your martial arts is something I’ve seldom seen,"

He continued,

"Throughout the battles of these days, each time you came back to rest, you would report the situation to me."

"I’ve had a vague idea in my mind, but have hesitated, uncertain if it would be feasible."

"—General, what are you talking about?"

Wu Xiaode bowed, indicating he was completely lost regarding the other’s meaning.

Zhao Congnan closed his eyes and thought silently for a few moments, then suddenly opened them as if he had made a decision and spoke,

"Bring out your Dragon Blood; by now its color should have faded a bit," he said.

Wu Xiaode was taken aback and drew out the Dragon Blood, looking it over closely.

Before, the blood was beaded and bright red, resembling agate; but now, it had indeed become somewhat dull.

"General, why is this?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"We don’t have the proper means to preserve Dragon Blood, so it’s quickly losing its potency," explained Zhao Congnan.

Rolling up his sleeves, Zhao Congnan took out a pen from his waist and after a deep breath he said,

"We can’t waste the Dragon Blood. Take off your shirt; I will use it to open up all the minute meridians in your limbs, to see if we can enable you to step onto the path of cultivation in one go."

Wu Xiaode spoke, confused, "The path... of cultivation?"

Zhao Congnan explained,

"Cultivators possess powers to move mountains, turn stars, slay dragons. If you can successfully step onto this path, it will mean one more hope for our Human Race."

"You have innate Divine Skills, learn martial arts incredibly fast, and what’s more, you are resourceful in battle, even managing to best a dragon — I think it is worth a try!"

Wu Xiaode said modestly, "General, that was just me taking advantage by surprise to trip up the dragon."

Zhao Congnan smiled and replied earnestly,

"The entire city couldn’t defeat it, but you did injure it and foil its chase. Remember, in this battle, you have already bested it."

"General, I was just causing a little trouble; I had no way to kill it," Wu Xiaode said.

Zhao Congnan stared intently, rebuking, "With your lowly martial arts skill, you want to kill it? What you’ve done is proof enough of your exceptional talent, and that’s all that’s needed!"

"Talent? What talent do I have?" Wu Xiaode inquired, not understanding.

"Your excellence in battle," Zhao Congnan stated.

Wu Xiaode was taken aback.

Zhao Congnan watched him with an approving look and went on,

"Among millions of soldiers and generals, only you could obtain Dragon Blood — who else in the world could match that?"

"And who else could hold off an army of demons on their own, preventing them from pursuing ours? That is called excellence in battle!"

"Enough talk—hurry, expose your back and arms!"

...

After a full hour had passed,

Wu Xiaode stood motionless, his body now covered in densely-packed runes drawn with the Dragon Blood.

Zhao Congnan let out a weary sigh, "Just one last stroke, and when I complete it, the entire ritual for entering the path will activate."

"Whether you awaken or not depends on your own qualities and destiny."

"Thank you, General," Wu Xiaode bowed in gratitude.

"No need for thanks. Once the ritual is successful, there will surely be extraordinary phenomena, but with your fog-concealing Divine Skill to cover it, it shouldn’t alert the demons — that’s why I dared to try this, while the Dragon Blood is still active, on your body," Zhao Congnan explained.

After finishing his words, he dipped the brush in the last drop of Dragon Blood, concentrated for a moment, and suddenly marked a rune on Wu Xiaode’s forehead.

In an instant, Wu Xiaode felt himself enter an incredibly mysterious state.

This was an experience like never before!

Zhao Congnan’s gaze flickered, his chant quickened,

"Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, light, darkness, sound—all Taoist Skills arise from the inherent nature of the elements!"

With a lift of his hand, he struck Wu Xiaode’s chest with his palm.

Thud.

Following the sound, multicolored lights suddenly surged around Wu Xiaode, within the void.

—A phenomenon occurred!

Zhao Congnan laughed heartily, exclaiming joyfully,

"It seems you have succeeded, Brother Wu!"

Wu Xiaode looked towards the Book of the Dead.

He saw the Book of the Dead crazily refreshing with lines of ice crystal characters.

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