Lord Shenxiu
Chapter 132: Heartfire (Supplement 2200)

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Heartfire (Supplement 2200)

"Achievement Unlocked—[Seller’s Show]!"

The Heavenly Show System, which had gone without awarding an achievement for a long time, suddenly sprang back to life, leaving Zhong Shenxiu somewhat surprised.

However, upon checking the reward, he found it to be a mere five Heavenly Show Points; Shenxiu, your lord, had long stopped caring about such trifles.

"But it really did give me a fright—I thought this broken system’s achievement module was already damaged..."

He casually glanced at his attribute panel and shook his head.

The reward of 5 Heavenly Show Points barely covered the cost of improving the Kidney Water Chapter, and to continue practicing the Heart Fire Chapter, he would still need to use his previously saved points.

As night fell,

he went alone to the small courtyard to ponder over the Five Elements Thief Palm.

"The Heart Fire Chapter of the Five Elements Thief Palm has two methods of application. One is to actively affect the opponent’s heart, causing sudden heart complications, similar to a heart attack... A moment’s carelessness could be fatal. Even if one could forcibly suppress the five elements within one’s body, a sudden pain in their heart during a duel would reveal a fatal weakness."

"The second method is to actively stimulate one’s own heart fire, temporarily boosting mana for an outburst of power..."

"In truth, this martial art, when used correctly, can regulate the five elements within the body and enhance one’s foundation. But it is mostly used for nefarious purposes, exploiting the enemies’ five elements..."

"Eh? This kind of martial arts, which cultivates the five organs, shares some similarities with the cultivation practices of Divine Power Practitioners..."

Beyond the Divine Power Realm, cultivators must ’destroy the six bowels and obliterate the five organs.’

But this does not mean to literally destroy the five organs; rather, it is because the storage and circulation of mana in the body is too slow, and they need to construct a different set of circuits.

Therefore, destruction is not the goal; reconstruction is what matters.

One must first enlighten the organs, creating ’divinities’ to replace the original functions, and then destroy the old ones.

From Zhang Taiyi’s memories, there was a proverb related to the cultivation of the heart, named ’The heart dies, and the divinity thrives’!

As Zhong Shenxiu contemplated the Five Elements Thief Palm, he sensed a similar principle.

"Of course, even if this palm technique incorporates all five elements, it can only strengthen the functions of the organs; the original flesh and blood organs, even if enhanced to their limit, are still constrained by the mortal body and cannot compare to the organ of vitality constructed purely of the world’s natural energy by Divine Power Practitioners..."

"But this is, after all, just an ordinary martial art. To possess such a philosophy is already quite remarkable; perhaps... I should make every effort to collect the remaining Chapters on Lung Metal, Liver Wood, and Spleen Earth, gathering all five elements... There should be changes that will please me."

Zhong Shenxiu, however, was also mentally prepared.

Given the previous influence of the Shanyao Gang, they had only collected two incomplete Chapters. He might not be able to collect them all.

Then, he would have to forcibly complete them with Heavenly Show Points.

"If one wishes to climb along this world’s unique system and research the path to physical divinity, one must practice the unique martial arts of this native world... ideally, one of the Four Great Legendary Books, but alas, that’s not possible..."

In recent times, he had frequently consulted Wei Baizhu for Jianghu experience, gradually supplementing the superficial knowledge from Xun Liuyi.

Now, he no longer considered himself a novice in Jianghu.

At the same time, he also learned that the Four Great Legendary Books had vanished years ago, and the masters who had once witnessed them were few and far between.

To ascend to the Heavenly List, one must at least master a martial arts technique from the List of Extraordinary Skills, which was exceedingly difficult.

Such martial arts, each one a closely-guarded secret of prestigious clans, were not something he needed to consider for now.

Therefore, he could only climb by completing the Five Elements Thief Palm technique. Even if he could not make it to the Earth List with this palm technique, it could at least get his name on the People List, raising his fame, and more opportunities would naturally follow.

Thump, thump!

Thump, thump!

As Zhong Shenxiu began his martial practice, his heart started beating more vigorously and powerfully, his blood coursed through his limbs, and his complexion glowed red as blood.

Crack!

He slowly struck out with a palm, and though it made no sound, a clear palm print suddenly appeared on the wall opposite, its edges slightly charred.

After delivering that palm, Zhong Shenxiu withdrew and stood still, the pores all over his body opened, releasing sweat like steam.

’The martial arts in this lifetime are also painstaking to cultivate, just now if I had failed to subdue the restless thoughts during the Heart Fire Chapter, at the very least, it would have resulted in complete exhaustion...’

Zhong Shenxiu sighed inwardly, then turned and saw Wei Hongyao.

She was holding a towel and a basin of water, standing there like a little maid, and when she saw Zhong Shenxiu looking over, she hurried forward and offered the towel.

"Thank you."

Zhong Shenxiu took the towel to wipe his sweat, expressing his gratitude.

Wei Hongyao, however, slightly shook her head: "Little Liu Yi, you’ve changed a lot, when you used to ask me for sweets, you weren’t so polite."

"Times and circumstances change, some people have to change." Zhong Shenxiu responded pensively.

"Yes."

Wei Hongyao showed a sadness that was completely out of place for her age, as if her cheerfulness before had been forced: "Senior Brother Li seems to be busy in front of the counter everyday, but Junior Brother Wang said he cries secretly when he sleeps..."

The Shanyao Gang had been annihilated, each of the remaining members bore a deep hatred as vast as the sea.

They just normally endured it with great restraint.

Zhong Shenxiu looked at Wei Hongyao and suddenly remembered.

This Senior Sister Wei, it seemed she had just recently been betrothed, but her fiancé had been lost in the fall of Little Mountain City, and the odds seemed grim for him now.

"Junior Brother Xun, you must practice martial arts well, and avenge us."

At last, Wei Hongyao handed over a large handful of candy, solemnly entrusting him before departing without looking back.

"Actually... I don’t like eating sweets, they’re too cloying after a while."

Zhong Shenxiu muttered to himself softly, suddenly feeling despondent, he went back to sleep.

...

The next day.

Anshan City teahouse.

Zhong Shenxiu had a distinguished status at the Shanyao Hall, not needing to do menial tasks and receiving a stipend each month.

He wasn’t a martial arts fanatic either, well aware that the practice of martial arts required combining work with rest; he would occasionally wander the city, picking up on bits of news.

The teahouse was a favored place of leisure: the tea fragrant and refreshing, the snacks delicious and affordable, a few copper coins would buy an afternoon’s stay, complemented by the storytellers for entertainment.

Zhong Shenxiu chose a corner seat, ordered a pot of clear tea, and sat quietly, listening to the storyteller talking of everything under the heavens.

During this period, the controversy over the disenfranchisement of the Small Mountain City Yam Gang had gradually subsided; after all, it was only a minor gang, and if not for its proximity, the storyteller wouldn’t have mentioned it much.

At this moment, spitting and gesticulating, he was recounting one significant event in the Jianghu after another:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the government has recently published the latest Earth Ranking; the protector of the Miaojiang Five Poison Sect, Black Widow Hua Miao, is ranked seventieth. This Female Grandmaster is reputed to be as beautiful as a flower and as cold-hearted and ruthless as they come. Her ’Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Puppet Hands’ skill is extremely mysterious, able to capture people and turn them into puppets, thereby consecutively defeating the seventy-second ranked Heavenly Mechanism Star Du Tong, as well as another unnamed Grandmaster..."

The storyteller’s face was flushed with excitement, and the listeners were all very attentive.

These three rankings of Heaven, Earth, and Man were determined by government officials; although the Great Wu Dynasty was in decline, the credibility of the five hundred years of these rankings still surpassed that of any major sect in the Jianghu.

At this, everyone couldn’t help but feel impressed by the Miao Girl’s high level of martial arts and her ruthless techniques...

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