Chapter 290: Chapter 276: Motivation

“Basic techniques may seem simple, but they’re a test of the minutiae of body control rather than mere show.”

“Whether it’s distance, position, center of gravity, or force, even the slightest deviation makes achieving Six Flashes impossible.”

“It’s slightly beyond my expectations again.”

Zhou Leng sat on the ground, recalling the Divine Text of basic fist techniques.

Each Divine Text represents a basic technique or a variation.

There are a total of seventy-two Divine Texts.

These Divine Texts were entirely different from before; they were very simple, with each rarely exceeding twenty-four strokes.

Unlike the previous “Star Gazing Technique,” where each word in the first part averaged over forty-two strokes, and the second part averaged over forty-eight.

The more strokes, the more complex the meaning the Divine Text carries.

Zhou Leng’s basic techniques were very solid, and the “Ten Reversed Beast Fist,” a top-tier training method even in high-level civilizations, greatly enhanced his understanding of basics far beyond the average person.

A deep understanding of basics, in turn, accelerates his comprehension of Divine Texts, making memorization naturally quicker.

In just half a day, Zhou Leng memorized seventy-two basic fist technique Divine Texts.

The seventy-two new Divine Texts slowly rotated in his mind.

Zhou Leng walked to the Martial Shadow Wall for basic palm techniques.

The second Martial Shadow Wall was similar to the first, with a person in white explaining first, then demonstrating, and finally breaking it down in combat.

Zhou Leng studied diligently.

Thus, Zhou Leng studied wall by wall of stone.

Soon, he mastered the basic martial arts, achieving at least Six Flashes.

Seven Flashes for Stepping Technique, Eight Flashes for Palm Technique.

By this time, the martial arts he had been cultivating since childhood had all reached perfection, with the Stepping Technique and Palm Technique attaining the Extreme Realm.

Only Swordsmanship, Finger Technique, and Claw Technique, which he hadn’t learned before, remained.

Zhou Leng thought for a moment and decided to leave Swordsmanship for last, beginning with the Basic Finger Technique.

Indeed, as Master Wu had said, fist, palm, finger, and claw are essentially unified.

Learning them wasn’t difficult.

However, the speed of learning Finger Technique was far slower than before.

Zhou Leng wasn’t in a hurry and focused on memorizing the basic moves of the Finger Technique, continuously mimicking the person in white.

After achieving Five Flashes on the stone wall, he began memorizing the Divine Texts.

Because the time needed to progress from Five to Six Flashes is long, memorizing both images and texts is more efficient.

After memorizing the finger technique Divine Texts, he then studied claw technique and swordsmanship.

After all three basic martial arts reached Five Flashes and memorizing the Divine Texts, Zhou Leng repeatedly practiced them.

But after three consecutive days of learning, he still couldn’t achieve Six Flashes.

After all, he hadn’t practiced them before.

Zhou Leng pondered deeply for a while, glanced at Master Wu, and approached for guidance.

As before, Master Wu only partially guided him, leaving the rest for Zhou Leng to comprehend on his own.

Zhou Leng thanked Master Wu and continued his cultivation.

Two days later, the Finger Technique reached Six Flashes.

Zhou Leng stood up, strolled slowly, balancing work and rest, observing the surrounding scenery.

He circled to the back of the Innate Pavilion and walked to the back door.

Standing at the back door, he looked out.

Outside was the edge of the mountaintop, covered in green grass and blooming yellow flowers.

The Three Sons of Ancient River, translucent, stood at the edge of the mountaintop, gazing into the distance.

The mountains connected to clouds, the blue sky infinite.

The three had grown much taller than when they were in the Flying Moon Map.

Each had an even richer Innate aura.

Guan Canglong was empty-handed.

Behind Shen Yunxian, three colorful ribbons floated, swaying with the breeze.

Qu Xinghan had a sword on his back.

“Senior brother, junior brother, which Martial Arts Star Road will you choose?” Shen Yunxian asked.

“I’ll choose ’Ten Thousand Laws’.” Guan Canglong said.

“I’ll choose ’Extreme Technique’.” Qu Xinghan said.

“As I guessed.”

“And you?” Both looked at Shen Yunxian, whose round face had eyes large like night stars.

“I’ll choose ’Zhi Zhong’.”

Guan Canglong was surprised: “Why would you choose Zhi Zhong?”

“Because my father chose Zhi Zhong, too, and our lineage has always adhered to it.” Shen Yunxian replied.

“You can choose your own path.”

“This is my path, to protect the Ancient River Sect. It has always been my wish since childhood.” Shen Yunxian lifted his chin, gazing off into the distance with a smile.

Guan Canglong said: “Indeed, all laws are without form, everything is just unique to me. There is no high or low in techniques; as long as you are unwavering in your determination, walking down that path makes it yours. Sometimes, outsiders’ opinions may not be the right ones.”

“Better than ’Spirit Ascension’,” Qu Xinghan said.

Shen Yunxian sighed lightly and said: “For me, Zhi Zhong is the only choice. The star tides are approaching, and the Foreign God is tightening the search for the Hidden Star Association, and my father is worried…”

“Did the Sect Leader say anything?” Guan Canglong asked.

“He’s the same as ever, sullen, doesn’t say a thing.” Shen Yunxian said.

Qu Xinghan slowly said: “The Master said we should prepare for the ’Continuation of the Lineage’.”

Guan Canglong and Shen Yunxian both turned their heads in shock to look at Qu Xinghan.

“Has it become that serious?” Guan Canglong asked.

Qu Xinghan said: “The Master said, although our Ancient River Sect is a sizeable sect with encrypted connections, without breakthrough in cultivation techniques, we cannot participate in the war of great civilizations and now face compounded crises, with our inheritance on the brink of extinction.”

Shen Yunxian asked: “Haven’t the elders been working hard to create new cultivation techniques? Isn’t it in time?”

Guan Canglong said, “It’s too difficult. Countless starry sky forces participate in the battle of great civilizations, and only one person can advance each time. The new forces that advance through the creation of cultivation techniques are far rarer than the champions of great civilizations.”

“Can we… obtain higher-level cultivation techniques?”

“We are the Hidden Star Association, our mission is to establish our own path, to explore the great way. We can learn from the outside world, but we cannot directly replace our sect’s cultivation techniques.”

“But if we all die, how can we establish our own path? Isn’t survival the most important?”

Guan Canglong looked ahead and said, “In the vast universe with countless star regions, endless beings are responsible for living, and we, the Hidden Star Association, are responsible for moving forward, responsible for exploring the path.”

“Why us…” Shen Yunxian asked softly.

The three fell silent.

Zhou Leng memorized the pronunciations of the four Divine Texts “Ten Thousand Laws,” “Extreme Technique,” “Zhi Zhong,” “Spirit Ascension,” repeatedly.

Different from other Divine Texts.

For other Divine Texts, just hearing them would cause a vague text image to appear in the mind, even if it’s the one with many strokes like “vast universe.”

However, these four Divine Texts did not form a three-dimensional text image in the mind; he heard their sound but did not see their shape.

After a while, the three walked off into the distance.

The disciple with a square head and vacant eyes stood silently to the side, staring blankly at their backs.

His arm was wrapped with a white handkerchief, stained red with blood.

After a short while, another disciple came and called him away.

Only then did Zhou Leng realize that this empty-eyed disciple was called Chang Nian.

It took three days and nights before Zhou Leng officially remembered the pronunciation of the four Divine Texts, yet he still couldn’t consolidate the text image.

Not knowing why, he instinctively felt that these four Divine Texts were exceptionally important.

After memorizing the pronunciations of the four Divine Texts, Zhou Leng returned to the plaza in front of the hall, continuing to practice basic skills.

On the fifteenth day after Zhou Leng entered the Innate Pavilion, Zhang Xinglie finished his cultivation in the Flying Moon Hall plaza and rose to look at the Flying Moon Map.

Song Juesi was cultivating in the Flying Moon Map.

Zhang Xinglie checked the time; Song Juesi was about to come out.

The two had previously agreed to take turns cultivating for six hours each.

He looked at the Flying Moon List.

First, Zhou Leng, twenty-three mountains.

Second, Zhang Xinglie, twenty-two mountains.

Third, Song Juesi, twenty-one mountains.

Zhang Xinglie caught Master Wu’s gesture out of the corner of his eye and immediately walked over to pay respects.

Master Wu stretched out his left hand, in it appeared a blue fist-sized sphere.

A rich medicinal aroma spread around.

Zhang Xinglie looked closely, astonished; the pill seemed like a blue moon.

Master Wu smiled, pointed to the Pill with his right hand, pointed to Zhang Xinglie’s mouth, then waved, indicating “no.”

With a wave of his right hand, surrounding mist condensed into an Innate Master, emanated Innate Gang Qi, and punched a fake mountain into pieces.

He pointed to the Innate Master, then to the Pill, and finally to Zhang Xinglie.

Zhang Xinglie, being highly intelligent, immediately guessed that Master Wu was saying that he could not use this Pill now, but upon advancing to Innate, he might be rewarded with this Pill.

Master Wu pointed toward Elder Song inside, waved his hand, then indicated the left door Zhou Leng walked through, also waving his hand.

Finally, Master Wu pointed to Zhang Xinglie, raising a finger.

Zhang Xinglie immediately understood; Master Wu was saying the reward this time was for him alone, and this must not be disclosed to others.

Zhang Xinglie did not expect Master Wu to regard him so highly; his heart was stirred, he bowed deeply, saying, “I will remember, surely diligently cultivate and carry forward the Ancient River Sect.”

Master Wu could not understand but felt Zhang Xinglie’s sincerity in his tone and nodded with a smile.

For a long while, Zhang Xinglie’s heart could not be calm; even meeting Yuhua Principal did not make him as excited as now.

The Starfield Sect’s Master Wu looked upon him so favorably.

He must work even harder!

In no time, Song Juesi came out, Zhang Xinglie entered.

At this moment, Song Juesi had already broken through the Body Refining Stage and advanced to the Late Vitality Stage.

The Celestial Essence Pill remedied the body’s deficiencies, and the Promotion Supplement Pill needed after the Vitality Stage was the same as the normal one; he had already purchased it from other Trial Takers before entering the Flying Moon Hall.

Master Wu, smiling, gestured to Song Juesi, exactly as he did before…

Song Juesi guessed what Master Wu meant, his heart filled with excitement.

Who would have thought, an old man like him could be valued by the Starfield Sect’s martial arts inheritors?

No regrets in this life, no regrets indeed!

Song Juesi thanked Master Wu, secretly swearing to fully commit to passing down the Ancient River Sect.

After encouraging Song Juesi, Master Wu sat before the Flying Moon Hall, gazing up at the sky, eyes distant, face showing nostalgia.

After a short while, Zhang Xinglie left the Flying Moon Map.

Song Juesi was about to enter the Flying Moon Map when disorderly footsteps came from the direction of the Transmission Hall.

The two looked toward the entrance.

Over two hundred people came in.

Rao Mingxian glanced around the plaza, saw only two people, and asked, “Where is Zhou Leng?”

Zhang Xinglie said, “He entered the third pass early.”

“As expected…”

The crowd looked at the list within the Flying Moon Map, showing the names of three people.

Zhang Xinglie asked, “Why did all of you enter?”

Rao Mingxian said, “This time the higher and intermediate ones came together. There are over fifty more higher-level ones than last time, and except for a few Yunhua Martial Arts Academy and Military Academy geniuses among them, all have heard Zhou Leng’s lecture.”

Zhang Xinglie scanned the crowd, meaningful.

Those who hadn’t heard Zhou Leng’s lecture sighed internally.

Zhang Xinglie said, “Before Zhou Leng entered the third pass, he explained the second pass in detail, greatly helping us. Now, I’ll follow Zhou Leng’s example and explain to everyone. Please remember, it is Zhou Leng speaking, not me.”

“Thank you, Brother Zhang Xinglie, thank you, Brother Zhou Leng.” Everyone gradually bowed in gratitude.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep