A Martial God's Bloodline

When Li Ye finished speaking, he carefully observed the change in the old man’s look.

Sure enough, the old man looked up again and observed Li Ye solemnly. Despite the initial hesitation, he nodded, “Prove it to me.”

There was clear a hint of anger as the old man said that, as though he was berating the boy silently for failing to appreciate his kindness! Furthermore, the boy was arrogant too.

“Senior is kind!”

After Li Ye finished speaking, his figure darted and he went straight to the second floor.

The old man’s eyes sparkled and he sneered. With his right hand, he reached out with lightning speed and grabbed Li Ye’s neck!

Whoosh! He only managed to grab thin air! His hands passed through Li Ye’s body, and it was then that he noticed that the figure was an afterimage. In fact, the real Li Ye was already standing firmly at the entrance of the pavilion’s second floor. Li Ye turned and smiled at the old man.

“I also hope that Senior will forgive me for my rudeness.”

The old man was speechless, but a burst of laughter soon erupted. “Alright then! You can go to the second floor.”

He no longer paid attention to Li Ye after completing his words. Li Ye nodded, entered the second floor without wasting any more time.

After Li Ye went in, the old man pondered and mumbled to himself, “That ought to be the Footstep Mirage just now. I didn’t expect someone to cultivate that at Level Five. Even ordinary Martial Masters would need a certain amount of talent to cultivate this psychical technique. Interesting boy! Seventh disciple, eh?”

Having thought of something, the old man shook his head and stopped talking. No one noticed that the old man disappeared unknowingly into the pavilion. Nary a person saw how he left and it was as if he simply disappeared into thin air.

The martial arts pavilion, second floor.

After Li Ye walked in there, he discovered that it was much smaller than the first floor. Thousands of techniques were present on the first floor, but it was evident that there were only a dozen on the second floor!

All of them were placed on a bookshelf, and at that particular time, he was not the only one on the entire second floor.

The others heard the sound of footsteps, and looked up suddenly at Li Ye. Once they realized that Li Ye was so young and had only a Level Five vital force, there was a hint of surprise in each of their eyes.

Li Ye returned their looks when they looked at him.

There were five other people throughout the second floor, excluding himself. Four of them looked older and were not disciples. The other person was not much different from him and looked around his early twenties.

“Li Gei.”

“Li Ye.”

As it turned out, it was Li Gei, who had been defeated twice by Li Ye. When the two bumped into each other, Li Gei had a complicated look in his eyes—there was equal parts resentment and a hint of fear.

The two defeats made him more aware of Li Ye’s strength. It was not as simple as Martial Spirit Level Five.

Li Ye minded his own business and began to choose his technique.

Throughout the entire second floor of the pavilion, there were about seventy to eighty techniques that the Li clan had collected. All of them were Yellow Rank Advanced, with a few Yellow Rank Intermediate techniques that were roughly the same level as Yellow Rank Advanced.

“Hidden Black Palm!”

Li Ye soon saw the Hidden Black Palm that Li Yue had once used. Among the many Yellow Rank Advanced techniques on the second floor, the Hidden Black Palm was regarded as so-so.

In addition, he also saw the Ice Crystal Fist and the Windstorm Kick. Although he has learnt those two techniques, he still perused them carefully.

At that moment, his eyes were bloodshot as he quickly remembered all those techniques.

Ordinary people would assume that Li Ye browsed through the book briefly and put it back in place. Unbeknownst to them, he had recorded all the techniques during that process.

“The Windstorm Kick is a Yellow Rank Advanced battle technique. If trained to its fullest, hundreds of consecutive attacks will burst out in an instant, like a storm that entraps one’s opponent in its most dangerous zone.”

“The Ice Crystal Fist is also a Yellow Rank Advanced technique. A cultivator’s hands would contain an inherent chilliness that makes an opponent feel cold. It does not only delay the opponent’s movements. If trained to its fullest, one could even seal the opponent in ice!”

After carefully analyzing those two battle techniques, Li Ye gained a deeper understanding of them. They were considered one of the more powerful techniques among Yellow Rank Advanced. Prodigies like Li Gei and Li Xuan would not have chosen them otherwise.

“These two techniques are actually modified from abridged Black Rank techniques!”

Li Ye was even more surprised when he studied them to the end!

According to the records, the Windstorm Kick was a simplified version of an incomplete technique called the Divine Whirlwind Kick. Similarly, the Ice Crystal Fist was also simplified from a technique known as the Skyfrost Fist.

It is written there that those two combat techniques were speculated to be powerful techniques that were at least Black Rank and above! However, it was too dated and much too incomplete, so some modification enabled it to become the current Windstorm Kick and Ice Crystal Fist.

“Even the simplified version is already a Yellow Rank Advanced battle technique! Moreover, their power is much stronger than ordinary Yellow Rank Advanced techniques!”

After copying the contents into his brain, Li Ye placed those two techniques back. He then turned the Footstep Mirage and began committing it to memory as well.

“The Footstep Mirage is a Yellow Rank Advanced physical technique, rumored to have been created by a Master in ancient times. The full version of the Footstep Mirage is actually an Earth Rank physical technique!”

Li Ye trembled when he read that!

Cloudveil Continent’s techniques were all divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. Each of those ranks had three levels: primary, intermediate, and advanced. A Black Rank physical technique! It was probably rare even in the entire Jiangnan Avenue, let alone in Wu Prefecture City!

“I didn’t expect the Footstep Mirage to have such rich origins. Such a pity that it’s only a remnant. The highest it can be trained to is Yellow Rank Advanced.”

Li Ye found that rather unfortunate. According to the statement, if the complete Footstep Mirage was trained to its zenith, it could instantly produce ten million doppelgangers. Each of those doppelgangers would have a third of the original body’s power.

The mere thought of it was scary enough! If one ever encountered such a strong figure, it meant that one would have to deal with tens of thousands of doppelgangers, each with one-third of their original body’s strength, all at the same time. In addition, one still had to defend oneself against the main body’s attacks. A massive headache indeed!

Li Ye then flipped through other techniques. Although most of them were good, they were much more inferior than the three he had learned.

Few physical techniques were present throughout the entire second floor. There were about a dozen books, but none of them was on the same level as the Footstep Mirage, so Li Ye discounted them.

As for battle skills, he found nothing that could compare to the Ice Crystal Fist and Windstorm Kick in fist and kick techniques. Instead, he found a book of palm techniques and one on sword techniques.

“The Cloudflip Palm, a Yellow Rank Advanced technique, was originally a simplified version of a Black Rank technique called the Cloudlining Palm.”

According to records, the first complete version of those three techniques originated ten thousand years ago from the lost techniques of a sect called the League of Heroes. Unfortunately, the entire sects were destroyed by others, leaving those lost techniques scattered everywhere. In the end, they became mere remnants of the original technique.

However, compared with the general Yellow Rank Advanced palm techniques, the Cloudflip Palm was quite powerful. At the very least, it was one of the top Black Rank techniques.

Li Ye immediately committed everything to memory using his bloodpupil. He was ready to go back and practice them well. When the time came, he had fist techniques, palm techniques, and kick techniques at his disposal.

Then, he set his gaze on that book of sword techniques.

“A sword is the king of weapons. Although not as crude as a saber, it remains the most virtuous weapon.”

The reason why he chose swordsmanship rather than sabers or spears was entirely due to the influence of his past life. In those martial arts movies, the so-called heroes usually wielded three-foot swords. They journeyed the world with their swords, capable of killing a man within ten steps without leaving any trace within a thousand miles.

Since he was in a world that revolved around martial arts, it was inevitable that he would be excited after seeing the sword techniques.

In his hands was a somewhat worn-out swordsmanship manual, which he flipped through and perused.

“Sword Control Technique?”

Li Ye froze slightly after seeing a sword technique. In his memory, the so-called sword techniques were like those seen in the Incantation of Ten Thousand Swords [1] or The Loner’s Quest for A Sword[2]. That was why the Sword Control Technique startled him.

“Sword Control Technique is of indeterminate rank. It is a manipulation of swords, sabers, and similar weapons to kill a person invisibly. At the height of its cultivation, it is enough to control a sword and kill someone from thousands of miles away! You can even control the sword a means of transport!”

Li Ye’s heart thumped wildly. He would not have known if he did not see it, but once he saw it, he was resoundingly shocked. Was the Sword Control Art the exact same thing as the Art of Sword Manipulation seen in various mythologies?

He looked left and right and saw that no one noticed him yet.

“This technique was placed in the far corner and is even covered in a thick layer of dust. It’s obvious that no one took any interest in it for many years.”

Li Ye could not help but wonder if it was really the Art of Sword Manipulation performed by the immortals in mythology. If it was, then successful cultivation would make it an extremely formidable skill!

Without mentioning its other aspects, the mere manipulation of a sword to kill someone a thousand miles away was even more amazing than modern sniper rifles! The use of the sword as a means of transport made Li Ye even more shocked!

In Cloudveil Continent, even an Innate Sovereign Level Master was only able to stay in the air for a short period of time. If they wanted to fly, they must at least reach the Dark Earth State!

However, no one in the entire Wu Prefecture City has achieved the Dark Earth State! That might even be the case in the entire Jiangnan Circuit—only a few of those renowned sects will have Masters reaching such a level!

Li Ye took a closer look and discovered that it did not have any specific requirements to be able to cultivate the Sword Control Technique. Even those at Martial Spirit Level One could begin learning it.

However, it was extremely demanding for those who wanted to refine it!

“Only those with extraordinary soulpower can cultivate this?”

Li Ye frowned after seeing that.

For Cloudveil Continent’s martial cultivators, the bloodsoul strength within one’s body was like the internal force mentioned in Earth’s martial arts novels. He understood that point well. However, what was soulpower?

All of a sudden, Li Ye’s brows felt an immediate yet brief tingling. The Sword Control Technique was relatively short-sentenced, but the next moment, tightly-spaced wordings began to appear on those blank pages.

“This is!”

Li Ye did not expect that there was another secret to the Sword Control Technique! The true cultivation method was actually hidden in it! The disinterest shown by others did not come as a surprise, but it stemmed from having no access to the cultivation methods instead of an undervaluation of the methods itself!

“So, that’s it! Soulpower is spiritual strength!” Li Ye had a sudden enlightenment after ruminating!

Speaking of spiritual strength, it was quite difficult to judge said strength within a person. After all, cultivators in Cloudveil Continent placed importance on the cultivation of bloodsoul strength. On the other hand, not many people touched on spiritual strength.

Li Ye, however, was different. As a vampire of the Ichor race, he was born with a strong spirit! His bloodpupils could never be utilized otherwise!

“This Sword Control Technique is tailor-made for me!” Li Ye’s eyes lit up radiantly, but it was only for a fleeting moment. It gradually began vanishing deep into his eyes.

[1] 万剑诀 – translated as Incantation of Ten Thousand Swords, it refers to a specific spell in a PC game called Legend of Sword and Fairy (仙剑奇侠传). Alternatively, the game is also known as Chinese Paladin.

[2] 独孤求剑 – translated as The Loner’s Quest for A Sword, it is a Chinese fantasy webnovel. We are unable to source an English translation so we coin a name for it.