Chapter Eighteen: Choosing Martial Skills

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  After a night's rest, Ye Chen came to the Wuji Pavilion again early in the morning of the second day.

  The elder of the Guardian Pavilion, apart from knowing most of the inner disciples and all of the core disciples, only knew a handful of outer disciples, such as Zhang Haoran and Wu Zongming. But strangely, when Ye Chen entered the Martial Skills Pavilion, he immediately recognized his opponent and responded with a smile.

  Ye Chen felt strange, but still politely said: "Greetings, elder."

  The elder of the Shoukang nodded and said with an air of seniority, "Having too many martial skills isn't a good thing either. As the saying goes, 'being greedy will make you choke', you should understand what I mean."

  Ye Chen didn't know what the other person was thinking, and revealed a wry smile. "Elder, I'm going to the second floor, here's the token." He said, handing over the token.

  "Token? What? You broke through the Wooden Man's Alley and took third place?" The Guardian Elder's face was full of surprise, unable to help but exclaim.

  "Yes."

  The elder of the Guardian Pavilion hesitated and said: "You really mastered the Thirteen Swords of Lonely Peak?"

  Jian Ye nodded in agreement, but the Guardian Elder still had some doubts, yet he couldn't help but believe that relying solely on the incomplete Lonely Peak Thirteen Swords to take third place was too easy, after all, his opponent's cultivation was only at the sixth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

  Although he was the guardian elder, he also didn't dare to ask too much and reminded him: "Those who can go up to the second floor are all inner door disciples and core disciples. They will more or less show arrogance towards you as an outer door disciple, remember not to provoke them. Also, you are not a formal inner door disciple, so you must come down within a minute, so hurry up and choose a good secret book."

  "I know."

  Ye Chen understood the reasoning, inner disciples and outer disciples were both disciples but their status was vastly different. If he clashed with an inner disciple, he would be the one to suffer. As for choosing a good secret manual within a minute, it was to prevent outer disciples from secretly memorizing other manuals.

  The staircase was on the left side of the depths, and Ye Chen walked past it with a calm expression.

  As soon as he went upstairs, Ye Chen felt an invisible pressure coming at him. Looking around, there were about a dozen people on the entire second floor. Some were carefully studying ancient tomes, some were chatting in hushed tones, and others were holding several tomes while making their selections. The oldest among them was no more than twenty years old, while the youngest was about Ye Chen's age. All of them exuded an aura that was unfathomable. They were... Inner Disciples!

  Lí Yè Chén's most recent inner disciple habitually turned his head to the side, a faint look of puzzlement floating on his face. He seemed to think of something and muttered: "I had forgotten, yesterday was the Chuān Mù Rén Xiàng competition, this person should be in the top ten!"

  After muttering to himself, his attention returned to the secret recipe and he no longer paid attention to Ye Chen.

  He walked a few steps forward, and Ye Chen looked around, finding that the layout was similar to the first floor, but more classical and atmospheric. The rows of bookshelves were not made of ordinary wood, but of sandalwood worth thousands of dollars. The fragrance emitted by these sandalwoods was rich and long-lasting, having a calming effect on the mind.

  The bookshelf is divided into five layers, with the lower three layers displaying high-level human-class secret books and the upper two layers displaying top-level human-class secret books. Each layer has three to five books, with a maximum of seven books. On the side of each row of bookshelves, labels are attached, such as "Cultivation Method Category", "Auxiliary Cultivation Method Category", "Body Technique Martial Skill Category", "Attack Martial Skill Category", and "Defense Martial Skill Category".

  Time waits for no man, Ye Chen had only one minute to make his choice.

  Firstly, Ye Chen arrived at the martial skills secret book area, he casually picked up a book to flip through its cover page, then put it down, immediately picking up another one, putting it down...

  Several dozen in hand, only nine are truly pleasing to the eye, namely -

  "Fierce Fire Fist, Attack Martial Skill!"

  "Take small steps and master martial arts!"

  "Eight Steps to Catch Cicadas, Body Method Martial Arts!"

  "Original Energy Intensifies, Defensive Martial Arts!"

  "No counterattack, defensive attack martial skill!"

  "Golden Goose Skill, Body Method Martial Technique!"

  "Four-Split-Five-Broken Fist, Attack Martial Skill!"

  "Draw Sword Style, Attack Martial Arts!"

  "Withered Wood Seal, attack with martial skills!"

  These nine martial skills may not be the best high-level human martial skills, but they are absolutely the most suitable for Ye Chen, so he is a little moved.

  Lihuoquan is the main martial art practiced by Wu Zongming, its power is self-evident, and when it reaches perfection, it can generate a flame that can deliver a fatal blow to the enemy; Cunyou Step is the footwork practiced by Zhang Haoran, advancing and retreating as if shrinking the earth into inches, extremely terrifying and practical; Baxianhuanzhan emphasizes explosive power within eight steps, enough to increase speed by 50% or more, no matter how fast the enemy's speed is, they can't escape the palm of your hand, it's the first choice for chasing and killing enemies; Yuangijin is a bit mysterious, requiring internal energy as an auxiliary, cultivating a unique yuanqi, this yuanqi is like internal energy, stored in the body at ordinary times, automatically appearing when facing the enemy to protect oneself, but using one part less than one part requires replenishment at all times.

  The first four are already excellent, if there were no other choices, Ye Chen would definitely choose one of them, but with the last five, Ye Chen had to give up on them.

  The counterattack is said to be a defensive martial art, but it is actually an attacking martial art. It emphasizes the concept of "later issuance and earlier arrival", anticipating the enemy's opportunity first, using passivity to defeat the enemy, and using defense to counterattack. When the enemy is strong, I am strong; when the enemy is weak, I am weak; when the enemy does not move, I do not move. It is extremely difficult to entangle. Those who have achieved success in their practice can stand on their own with this alone.

  The Golden Goose Skill is a lightness skill, those who master it can walk on water with ease, and when they reach the highest level, they can traverse hundreds of meters in mid-air as if flying over grass.

  When he saw the introduction of the Four-Split-Five-Shattered Fist, Ye Chen couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. This martial skill was actually so overbearing and tyrannical, with no hint of gentleness or subtlety whatsoever. One punch would be enough to shatter the target into four or five pieces, it could be said that it had reached the extreme of ferocity, quite extreme indeed.

  "Hardness cannot last, Tai Chi must emphasize one yin and one yang, one hard and one soft. What's more, it's a martial art, I'm afraid that if you can't knock down the enemy at first, you'll be knocked down by the enemy instead." Yedu shook his head and gave up on the Four-Split Fist technique.

  As for the sword-drawing technique, it emphasizes the explosive force generated in the instant of drawing the sword. The power and speed must be greater than directly swinging the sword, so as to strike the enemy first in the initial move and strive for a fatal blow with one move.

  Ye Chen practiced the Lone Peak Thirteen Swords. If he could pair it with the Sword Drawing Technique, then from drawing to sheathing the sword, there would be no flaws in between, unless his opponent's strength or martial skills far surpassed his own.

  However, many things are not seen this way. The sword-drawing technique is good, but for those who practice the sword method, it's not a high-level choice. It's like the Four-Split-Five-Shattered Fist, too extreme, starting with the intention to harm people. If you can't hurt people, your vital energy will be wasted.

  So the sword-drawing technique is not suitable for a swordsman, but rather for an assassin.

  The last martial art is Kǒ Mù Yìn, which excels at concealing its aura. When attacking, it is silent and stealthy, often the enemy has not yet detected it before being directly struck dead. Apart from this, the name Kǒ Mù Yìn seems dull and lifeless, but actually contains infinite vitality. Before striking the target, the vital energy is tightly locked in, only to burst forth like an old tree encountering spring, radiating a terrifying vitality and explosive force at the moment of impact.