Chapter 94 - 90: Nine Martial Arts Combined, First-Class Success_1

The bedroom, lit dimly with a solitary lamp.

On the wooden desk lay a stack of papers, all intelligence sent by Li Quan.

It must be said, Li Quan was remarkably talented in gathering information. By mingling with the members of the Green Bamboo Gang, he relayed to Lu Yan the latest significant events happening in the six counties of Lingdong every few days.

Lu Yan begins to peruse through each report.

For example: A young martial artist, pursued and driven off a cliff, finds a predecessor’s inheritance beneath the precipice. Gaining a top-tier martial art, after many years of hardship and isolation, he emerges, obliterates his enemies, avenges his grudges and his name echoes through the world.

Or, the young master of a feudal lord, born with blocked meridians and unable to cultivate, faces derision and humiliation. After sinking into obscurity for years, he suddenly rises to fame, astonishing the world by crushing underfoot those who once mocked him.

A disciple of an absolute master descends the mountain, delivers justice and acts chivalrously, earning the favor of several beauties.

Or perhaps, two grandmasters fight on the peak of a mountain, resulting in the extermination of a feudal lord, and so forth.

Lu Yan only gave these martial world stories a cursory look.

Only two pieces of news caught his attention.

The first was the war between the Liu Family and the Wei Family.

They had been fighting for over eight months without a clear victor, and currently, they were at a standoff.

The Qiu Family to the north was consistently bolstering its forces and attacking, putting great pressure on the Wei Family, preventing them from allocating troops to exterminate the Liu Family.

It was said that the Wei Family once attempted to negotiate a truce with the Liu Family, but was rebuffed.

"It seems, an agreement has been reached between the Liu Family and the Qiu Family from Da’an County." Lu Yan speculated.

The ancestor of the Liu Family was highly clever.

On the surface, a truce with the Wei Family would benefit the Liu Family. They wouldn’t have to face this eminent grandmaster-level feudal lord. But any insightful person would know that this was not a permanent solution.

The Wei Family suggested the truce out of the current pressure they faced.

Their intention was to gather strength to confront the Qiu Family. Once they repelled the Qiu’s advances, they would definitely deal with the Liu Family.

By then, the Liu Family would certainly face extinction.

Collaborating with the Qiu Family and attacking from both sides, gradually chipping away at the Wei Family was the most beneficial strategy for the Liu Family.

As for whether it would be like letting the wolf into the house after weakening the Wei Family and enticing the Qiu Family into their domain, it depended on whether the Liu Family could seize this opportunity to rise up.

If they could concentrate their resources in this period of time and produce another grandmaster, then the position of the Liu Family would be secured.

The second piece of news that drew Lu Yan’s attention was that demonic beings inside Moling Mountain had been behaving unusually, repeatedly coming down from the mountain to attack villages and cities. Lately, they had aggressively invaded Dongshan County. In just a few days, over a dozen Martial Marquis-level feudal lords were extinguished. Only with the joint effort of more than ten grandmasters from the two grandmaster-level feudal lords of Dongshan County could they barely repel the demonic beings of Moling Mountain.

"It has been said that the demonic beings in Moling Mountain have been quiet for a century. Why would they repeatedly invade villages and cities recently? What exactly has happened? It’s odd." Lu Yan pondered.

Lingdong’s six counties were actually located on a peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides. To the far west was a majestic and massive mountain range, Moling Mountain.

Moling Mountain separated Lingdong’s six counties from the mainland of ShenZhou, like a natural moat.

The six counties were located to the east of Moling Mountain, hence the name Lingdong.

Many monstrous and strange creatures resided in Moling Mountain.

Monstrous and strange creatures were a unique type of existence, differing in form, each with its own characteristics. They were transformed from ferocious birds, wild beasts, or some other peculiar things, which had consumed the foul energy between heaven and earth. They were powerful and their methods unpredictable.

But these monstrous and strange creatures usually lived in Moling Mountain and rarely ventured out, let alone invaded human villages and cities.

The recent large-scale invasions were rare throughout history.

However, Dongshan County was extremely far from here, so Lu Yan just noted it in his mind without paying too much attention.

...

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed.

"Vajra Finger is almost reaching the Unity of Man and Martial Arts. Once Vajra Finger reaches the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, besides weapon-based martial arts, I have cultivated the nine second-rate martial arts to Unity of Man and Martial Arts. Can I successfully integrate them?"

Excluding Broken Sky Blade and Tyrant’s Spade, the nine second-rate martial arts were: Gale Hand, Antelope Hand, Man Xiang Body, Wind Chasing Step, Vajra Body, Vajra Fist, Vajra Leg, Vajra Palm, Vajra Finger.

Nine was the ultimate number.

And they didn’t conflict with each other. They should be able to be integrated, right?

Lu Yan was full of anticipation, he even paused the accumulation of Qi-blood in the following days, and used all the martial food energy to upgrade Vajra Finger.

Three days later.

Vajra Finger successfully advanced to Unity of Man and Martial Arts.

Nature’s reward was, of course, absent. But when Vajra Finger advanced to Unity of Man and Martial Arts, the martial arts avatars around the Dao Book exhibited an anomaly.

The corresponding nine martial arts avatars moved and arranged themselves in a special formation. Subsequently, two avatars abruptly charged at each other, collided and ignited a dazzling radiance.

In a fleeting moment, the two martial arts avatars merged into one.

Soon after, the third martial arts avatar also charged over...

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...

Quickly, the nine martial arts avatars fused together to form a new martial arts avatar, with a line of words above its head.

First-rate martial arts avatar, unnamed, unity of man and martial arts.

First-rate!

Indeed it is first-rate, Lu Yan trembled with excitement.

It was so hard, after painstaking effort and years of practicing more than ten second-rate martial arts, like groping for a way across the river by feeling for the stones, finally, today, he has his own first-rate martial arts.

He began to notice the subtle changes in himself.

In the process of the martial arts avatars fusing, the Dao Book imparted a mysterious force into his whole body. His qi-blood was changing, and the meridians he’d unblocked were being reshaped.

The total quantity of his qi-blood didn’t change, but its quality became higher, more condensed, more tangible, and more powerful.

If he had to compare, his qi-blood before would be rusted scrap iron, while his current qi-blood is refined steel.

The difference was extremely significant.

No wonder martial artists who cultivate first-rate martial arts can easily crush those who cultivate second-rate martial arts at the same level.

They are completely incomparable.

As for those who cultivate third-rate martial arts, the comparison is even more absurd.

Meanwhile, the number of meridians he’d unblocked in his body also underwent a significant change.

Cultivating a single second-rate martial art to the unity of man and martial arts can unblock 1152 meridians. For nine second-rate martial arts, a total of 10368 meridians can be unblocked.

Among them, Vajra Fist, Vajra Palm, Vajra Finger, etc. have some overlapping meridians, but these nine second-rate martial arts have collectively unblocked more than nine thousand meridians.

Now, as he has developed a first-rate martial arts, the number of unblocked meridians has become 3456.

Almost two-thirds less.

However, the speed of cultivation and the pace of accumulating qi-blood have increased.

Just like when the third-rate martial arts were fused into second-rate martial arts, the previously nine second-rate martial arts were independent and structured on their own.

Each operated separately, resulting in low efficiency.

Now that they’ve fused into one, the more than three thousand meridians have formed a large circuit. With the twelve main meridians at the core, it connects the hands, feet, waist, chest, and head. The circulation of qi-blood is like the cycle of the sky, with a significantly increased efficiency.

When he uses his martial arts, the power is also significantly increased.

This is equal to the unity of man and martial arts of the first-rate martial arts.

Generally speaking, when a first-rate martial art is cultivated to the peak of perfection, it’s comparable to the unity of man and martial arts of a second-rate martial art.

The power of a first-rate martial art’s unity of man and martial arts can be imagined.

Boom!

Inside the practice room, Lu Yan threw out a punch. The training bronze man dented, leaving a palm print three inches deep.

"Impressive! Just a casual strike has such power. If this hits a human body, the body would surely explode instantly."

Lu Yan was very satisfied and grew more confident.

Now, how would he compare to a Martial Marquis?

Lu Yan looked forward to it.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually be so reckless as to go find a Martial Marquis to try it out.

If he ends up finding a level two or level three Martial Marquis, one test could cost him his life.

"What should I name it? The nine second-rate martial arts include five related to Vajra. Let’s call it Vajra Indestructible Skill."

Lu Yan said.

Immediately, the words on the martial arts avatar changed: First-rate martial arts avatar, Vajra Indestructible Skill, unity of man and martial arts.

"Now that I have a first-rate martial arts, next, I can plan to open the martial arts school."

Lu Yan began to consider what to do next.

It’s still too early to aim to become a Martial Marquis. Firstly, he needs to cultivate to the state of qi-blood overflowing, then he needs to spend time polishing his qi-blood, and only then can he try incorporating qi-blood into bones.

Even though his cultivation speed is much faster than ordinary people, the capacity of his qi-blood is six times that of others. He estimates it would take at least two years to reach the state of qi-blood overflowing.

The following day, he summoned Wang Lin, Zhang Jun, Li Quan, Cao Hu, and others to discuss the opening of the martial arts school.

Everyone had known for a long time that Lu Yan had this plan. Now that it was finally time to put it into action, they were all spirited, offering their suggestions eagerly.

They were very clear that the martial arts school was just the first step in Lu Yan’s development.

In the future, it wouldn’t be impossible to start from the martial arts school and develop into a feudal lord.

For those who joined him from the very beginning, as long as their leader ascends, they all would rise as well.