“I must maximize my strength to prepare for future trouble.”
The stack of books on the desk had all been retrieved from the storage bag of the Ghost Sound Fiend, Liu Sanxian.
In addition to five manuals, there were four bottles of medicinal pills and over two thousand taels in silver banknotes!
After paying the forging fee for the Hanlin Sword and the money to purchase his residence from those banknotes, Shen Xiuhan still had over a thousand taels left. Combined with the funds provided by the Ji family, he wouldn't have to worry about money for quite some time.
“As for these pills...”
Shen Xiuhan frowned. Uncorking a bottle, he poured out a few pills into his palm to examine them closely.
The pills were dark red all over, and a strong, bloody odor rushed into his nose. A single whiff made his blood qi churn and filled his heart with disgust.
“Forget it. It's best to stay away from the demon sect's pills.”
With a look of disgust, Shen Xiuhan set them aside and turned his attention back to the secret manuals.
Most of Liu Sanxian's techniques were related to musical instruments. There were scores for the pipa, flute, zither... all kinds of variety! The covers were even illustrated with diagrams of strings and finger holes.
Flipping through them, he found they were filled with bizarre methods to circulate true qi through rhythm and bewilder the mind with musical notes. They were clearly the foundation of his famous Ghost Sound heritage.
Though these things were undeniably strange and mystical, they clashed completely with Shen Xiuhan's path. He casually flipped through a few pages before losing interest.
Except for one...
The five words on its cover were written in a sharp, powerful hand that immediately caught his eye, making it impossible to look away.
『Flying Shadow Heart-Devouring Hand』...
Shen Xiuhan's eyes flickered. He murmured the name under his breath before flipping it open to read carefully.
After reading for just a brief moment, he felt a wave of reassurance.
“It really is the signature technique of the Flying Fiend, Ke Duhe!”
Relying on his superb mastery of hidden weapons, Ke Duhe had run rampant across the prefectures of Nanxiang for many years. Countless righteous experts had met their end beneath his flying darts!
As for why it had ended up in Liu Sanxian's possession... After a moment of thought, Shen Xiuhan came up with a guess.
Liu Sanxian was highly skilled in illusion techniques. If he paired them with this hidden weapon technique—using illusions to confuse the enemy first, and then using the flying shadows to take their lives—the combination of distraction and assassination would be a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, the unfortunate Liu Sanxian had run into Shen Xiuhan and hadn't even been able to throw a single dart before he died.
Shen Xiuhan spread the manual open, only to realize that it was an incomplete copy, containing only the mental cultivation methods and hand technique diagrams for the first three layers.
Even so, the force-exertion methods and throwing techniques recorded within caused the light in his eyes to grow brighter.
Shen Xiuhan trained in six distinct fields—fists, kicks, movement, weapons, illusions, and ocular techniques. He was a well-rounded, versatile fighter with no obvious weaknesses.
The only thing he lacked was a high-level ranged technique. And this 『Flying Shadow Heart-Devouring Hand』 had arrived at the perfect moment!
Shen Xiuhan took a deep breath, suppressing the rising anticipation in his heart, and muttered silently, Deduction!
【Deductible martial art 『Flying Shadow Heart-Devouring Hand』 detected. Deduct?】
“...Yes.”
In his field of vision, the intelligence points plummeted like water from a breached dam.
Boom!
Instantly, absolute silence fell over the bamboo hut.
The rustle of the autumn wind through the forest, the gentle lapping of the lake against the shore, and the soft chirping of insects beneath the eaves were all stripped away from his ears by an invisible hand!
The space between Shen Xiuhan's brows grew scalding hot. In his mind, countless golden lights surged and gathered, condensing into a golden figure.
The figure's face was blurry, but its posture was as sharp as a blade, and several flying darts gleamed with a cold light between its fingers.
Then... A dart was thrown!
【Year 5: Using ordinary copper coins as darts, you throw three thousand of them every day. Your wrists swell like lotus roots, and your fingers are worn to a bloody pulp. Eventually, you achieve Great Accomplishment in the copper coin dart technique—hitting wherever you point within thirty Zhang, sinking deep into wood!】
【Year 10: You throw feathers into the wind. They drift with the gale, suddenly fast and suddenly slow, their trajectories erratic and unpredictable. You thread needles through the rain, using the downpour to conceal their forms, letting them land without a sound. At last, you grasp the true essence of "Flying Shadow." When your hidden weapons tear through the air, they leave no trace, moving too fast for the naked eye to track!】
【Year 15: You hide darts in your sleeves and pinch needles between your fingers, practicing whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. When talking to others, a slight twitch of your fingertip sends a fine needle silently pinning into their clothes without their knowledge. You strike a hundred times in a bustling market, yet no one sees when you move; they only know the hidden weapon has already reached their face. With this, 『Flying Shadow Heart-Devouring Hand』 reaches Great Accomplishment!】
Boom!
A sharp, tricky, and treacherous intent, like ancient ice melting into water, violently poured into Shen Xiuhan's limbs and bones.
He felt as if the meridians in his ten fingers were being pierced by thousands of fine needles at the same time, or cast into a furnace to be tempered a thousand times. Every inch of muscle and bone was trembling and reorganizing.
“Hiss!”
Shen Xiuhan gasped, letting out a muffled groan. The fingers of both his hands spasmed and twitched uncontrollably!
Beneath the skin of his fingertips, streams of dark-golden energy slithered wildly like tiny snakes, crushing his finger bones, tendons, and meridians layer by layer, then reshaping them layer by layer.
The fingers were closely linked to the heart. The agonizing pain pierced straight to his heart, causing the veins on his forehead to bulge violently as cold sweat poured down, completely drenching the back of his shirt.
It took a full half-cup of tea's time for this bone-shattering, skin-peeling pain to slowly recede.
The ambient noise around the bamboo hut rushed back to his ears. The rustle of the autumn wind through the forest, the chirping of insects, and the lapping of the lake water—every sound became clear once more.
Shen Xiuhan slowly raised his hands, bringing them before his eyes.
His ten fingers were now slightly longer than before, his knuckles as distinct as bamboo segments, and a faint, almost imperceptible jade-like luster shimmered beneath his skin.
The sensitivity of his fingertips had reached the absolute limit; even the slightest breeze brushing against his fine hairs was clearly discernible.
Subconsciously, he flicked his wrist, and a copper coin slid silently into the gap between his fingers.
His wrist suddenly snapped!
Swish—
The copper coin transformed into a blurry golden line, instantly piercing through the bamboo window.
Over twenty Zhang away, a Zhuyeqing snake that was slowly slithering up a tall bamboo stalk suddenly had a line of blood burst open at its vital spot.
The snake's body fell from the bamboo, still writhing madly in the mud, but its head had already been cleanly severed.
Shen Xiuhan withdrew his hand, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.
“Accurate!”
Now, any light object that fell into his palm could be transformed into a lethal weapon. And this was merely the power of the Great Accomplishment stage of 『Flying Shadow Heart-Devouring Hand』.
Shen Xiuhan picked up the incomplete manual and flipped to the general outline, unable to help but murmur in a low voice,
“If I can train this technique to Great Perfection, not only will I master all kinds of throwing weapons, but I'll also be able to infuse true qi into specially made darts to store power...”
He paused, the sharp light in his eyes intensifying as he continued,
“As long as I store power long enough and the material of the dart is hard enough, I could even break through the protective true qi of a mid-stage Huajin Rank martial artist!”
“Hu...”
Shen Xiuhan exhaled a long breath of turbid air and slowly closed the manual, praising from the bottom of his heart,
“The Flying Fiend, Ke Duhe, was able to traverse both the righteous and demonic paths with his hidden weapon techniques and earn such a grand reputation. He truly possessed real skill.”
Stowing the manual into his storage bag, he stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the shimmering lake under the night sky, his mind made up.
He would find some time in a few days to visit the prefecture capital and custom-order a batch of handy flying darts for self-defense.
When that time came...
For close-quarters combat, he would have his fists, kicks, and movement techniques; for support attacks, he would have his illusions, ocular techniques, and hidden weapons; and he would still have his sword-qi as his ultimate trump card.
It could be said that, for now, he would have no weaknesses!
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