Chapter 293: Talent Martial Skill

Chapter 293: Innate Martial Skill

An inexplicable fear welled up in Uqi’s heart.

It was as if she had been locked onto by some terrifying creature.

Goosebumps rose on her delicate, snow-white skin.

She looked at Qi Yuan, her breath quickening slightly: “What’s so special?”

“Your… blood.” Qi Yuan gazed at Uqi; her skin was so pale he could see her veins, blood flowing slowly through them.

Uqi was stunned.

“My blood?”

She couldn’t quite understand, even suspecting Qi Yuan of being some noble with peculiar fetishes.

“To me, the most special thing about you is your blood.” Qi Yuan shrugged. “How about you give me a little of your blood, and I’ll grant you some small wishes.

Oh, and… menstrual blood won’t do!”

At the end of his words, Qi Yuan added a clarification.

If Uqi cut corners and brought him menstrual blood, that would be going too far.

Qi Yuan never underestimated humanity’s “baser instincts.”

Hearing Qi Yuan’s words, Uqi—who still thought herself open-minded and accepting of anything—couldn’t help blushing all the way to her ears.

She lowered her head, not daring to meet Qi Yuan’s eyes.

His words had struck her with too great an impact.

Now, her mind was in turmoil, conjuring up all sorts of scenarios.

Could it be… that Mr. Qi was a… monster who loved to drink a maiden’s blood?

“What do you think?” Qi Yuan smiled faintly.

Uqi’s heart was in turmoil. Finally, she gritted her teeth, leaned her head toward Qi Yuan, and pulled aside the top of her clothes a little, revealing her snow-white neck.

“Mr. Qi… take my blood!”

She looked as if she were facing death, as if she had resigned herself to fate.

The path she had chosen, she would have to walk to the end.

Compared to losing some blood, she wanted more to become someone above others.

The opportunity was before her, and she didn’t want to let it go.

“Though I’m omnivorous, I don’t drink human blood. Drinking human blood… is against the law.

I never do anything illegal or against the rules.

Put your neck away. When I need blood in the future, I’ll come to you.”

His strength was still too weak now.

Though he had noticed something special about Uqi’s blood, even if she gave it to him now, he would need to expend considerable energy to study why it was special.

That wasn’t a critical matter for him at the moment.

So, he merely left it as a foreshadowing.

For now, improving his strength was the most important thing.

Once he was strong enough, he could see at a glance why it was special.

Hearing Qi Yuan’s words, Uqi breathed a sigh of relief.

“My blood will always be kept for you, sir!” Uqi said earnestly.

“I live in Jun’an Compound. You drive.”

“Jun’an Compound?”

She set Jun’an Compound as the destination.

When she saw the general location of Jun’an Compound, Uqi’s heart skipped a beat.

Back in high school, she had heard classmates say that Qi Yuan was the orphan of a martyr.

But after seeing Qi Yuan on the cruise ship, she had guessed that he had deliberately hidden his identity while attending school.

Now, hearing that he lived in Jun’an Compound, many thoughts crossed her mind.

A figure so important, one that even a hereditary viscount would go out of his way to please—how could he live in such an ordinary compound?

Could there be some hidden reason?

“Yes, Jun’an Compound.” Qi Yuan closed his eyes slightly and said no more.

Seeing this, Uqi was filled with doubt and confusion.

She wanted very much to ask why Qi Yuan lived in such a place.

But even with her confusion, she dared not inquire.

After all, if she accidentally offended Qi Yuan, she wouldn’t even know how she died.

In the Qin Yuan Kingdom, it was really no big deal for a noble to kill a celebrity.

This ancient empire of Qin Yuan had clear boundaries between high and low.

Uqi’s heart was in turmoil as she drove her car toward Jun’an Compound.

By the time night was about to fall and the modern city was lit up with colorful lights, the car finally arrived.

Unlike the bright, daylight-like roads, near nightfall, not all the streetlights beside Jun’an Compound were on.

It was as if it were a different place from where Uqi lived.

Looking at this ordinary compound, her confusion deepened; it had nothing to do with a wealthy district.

It wasn’t even as good as her own neighborhood.

At that moment, Qi Yuan stretched lazily, looked at the familiar compound, and smiled.

“We’re here.”

Qi Yuan got out of the car, and Uqi quickly followed, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

“Thank you for driving me. Sorry for the trouble,” Qi Yuan said politely.

“No trouble at all,” Uqi replied quickly.

“Here… twenty-seven yuan for the fare.”

Qi Yuan said, pulling twenty-seven yuan from his pocket, in various denominations.

Uqi was a bit stunned.

Fare?

“Take it. I’m not a freeloader.” Qi Yuan always abided by the law. “And don’t post about me online, calling me a cheapskate. When I went to the martial arts hall, the fare was twenty-six, and I even added an extra yuan!”

Qi Yuan held out the money to Uqi.

He paid in cash, no transfer.

After all, afraid the police might misunderstand.

Wu Qi caught the money in a daze, utterly baffled by Qi Yuan's move.

Was this the eccentricity of a big shot?

"I don't have a cat that can cook either, so I won't invite you in. Bye."

Qi Yuan was polite and left just as directly, leaving Wu Qi standing there, bewildered in the wind.

She watched him, her emotions a tangled mess.

"Does he really live here?"

Her heart was uneasy.

After all, this morning her agent had told her that perhaps this Qi Yuan was just... an ordinary person who had helped Viscount Carnival with a favor, and that was why the viscount valued him.

...

"Mr. Qi, Zhao Shiqi... asked me... to request a meeting with you, to apologize."

On the phone, Carnival's voice was a mix of nervousness and joy.

Yesterday, he and Qi Yuan had been ambushed by a sniper.

When he learned it was the work of Count Black Crystal, his only thought was to take Qi Yuan and flee, to avoid the storm.

But who could have guessed... Count Black Crystal, Zhao Renji, had dropped dead that very day.

If that wasn't Qi Yuan's doing, Carnival wouldn't believe it.

This also made Carnival realize that Qi Yuan was a true cultivator, capable of killing without a trace.

Count Black Crystal, Zhao Renji, had countless guards, yet Qi Yuan still killed him.

"Who is he? Don't know." Qi Yuan had never even heard the name.

"He's Zhao Renji's younger brother, and now the head of the Zhao family..."

After Zhao Renji's death, power slipped away.

Zhao Shiqi wasn't useless; despite his own convictions and beliefs, he wouldn't let the Zhao family's influence fall into others' hands.

In just one day, he had fully seized control of the family.

"Oh, him. Can't be bothered to meet. I've already killed who I wanted to kill. What's the point of seeing him?

Does he want to avenge his brother?

Tell him I have a mental illness certificate, so I'm not afraid of him," Qi Yuan replied.

Hearing this, Carnival felt both elated and shocked.

So it was true—Qi Yuan had killed Zhao Renji.

Good thing he hadn't hesitated over that hundred million and tried to double-cross him.

If Qi Yuan could kill Zhao Renji so easily, killing him would be just as simple.

"I'll relay your words to Zhao Shiqi exactly, Mr. Qi.

Oh, and Mr. Qi, Zhao Shiqi probably doesn't know yet... that Zhao Renji was killed by you. Should I... keep it quiet?" There was a pause in Carnival's voice on the phone.

"Why would I hide it? I'm not pretending to be weak to catch the tiger.

Besides, I have a mental illness certificate—what's there to fear?"

Qi Yuan said casually.

With no parents, no children, and a mental illness certificate, Qi Yuan was already the invincible man of this era.

"Alright," Carnival agreed over the phone.

Qi Yuan hung up and went back to his cultivation. In the days that followed, he practiced steadily.

By day, he trained at the martial arts hall; by night, he returned home to refine medicinal herbs for cultivation.

Life was calm, as still as an ancient well.

If there was any difference, it was that he now had a full-time driver: Wu Qi.

And one day, when Wu Qi picked him up on the way home, others at the martial arts hall noticed.

Wu Qi was a fairly well-known celebrity in Tianyue City.

This stirred up quite a buzz at the hall.

Everyone said Qi Yuan was dating the big star Wu Qi.

Wang Shiqiao looked at Qi Yuan differently now, staring at him with a strange expression and saying, "No wonder—so you're dating a big star."

In the Mingwu Martial Arts Hall circle, aside from people at Xu Tiehua's level, the other rich kids had no standing to look down on Wu Qi.

Wu Qi picking up and dropping off Qi Yuan every day truly amazed everyone at the hall.

Especially Wang Shiqiao, who had learned from her best friend Xing Yu that Qi Yuan came from an ordinary background.

Xing Yu's gaze toward Qi Yuan had also changed.

She felt that Qi Yuan and she were on the same path.

She inexplicably felt a bit more fondness for him.

At dusk, Qi Yuan got out of Wu Qi's car again and entered the neighborhood.

The lights in the neighborhood were dim, a warm orange glow.

On a flat patch of ground, a burly man was practicing boxing.

His punches were fierce, incredibly sharp.

Qi Yuan even felt that Xu Tiehua, the top fighter at Mingwu Martial Arts Hall, was far inferior to this burly man.

"Brother Yang, still training?"

Qi Yuan walked straight over.

The burly man was named Yang Shan.

He had moved in next door to Qi Yuan a week ago, making him Qi Yuan's neighbor.

Yang Shan was in his thirties, powerfully built, with a soldier's bearing.

But he had been injured and discharged early.

Since he practiced martial arts and Qi Yuan did too, they had gotten to know each other.

After all, in the way of martial arts, Yang Shan had walked a longer path.

Qi Yuan occasionally asked him for advice.

"You're back? Hmm, another breakthrough?" Yang Shan glanced at Qi Yuan, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Yeah," Qi Yuan nodded.

"Your talent... is terrifying." Yang Shan's expression was unreadable.

"Average, average, third under heaven." Qi Yuan was not modest at all.

"You must be wanting to ask me how to break through and become a martial artist," Yang Shan spoke up, his expression turning serious.

"Yeah."

Qi Yuan had already cultivated the *Mingwu Resonance Fist* to the sixth layer.

He was just one step away from breaking through to the seventh layer.

Once he reached the seventh layer, he could obtain his martial artist certificate.

But he still had many doubts about breaking through to the seventh layer.

"To become a martial artist, you need to form your own innate martial skill!

An innate martial skill surpasses the limits of the human body and can unleash terrifying energy.

Legend has it that in ancient times, when a martial artist reached a certain level of power, they could even form their own innate killing move—a single finger severing a river!

Of course, those experts, after research and discussion, all say this is nonsense—that innate martial skills cannot evolve into innate killing moves."

As Yang Shan spoke, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes.

He was not only a retired soldier but also a peak martial artist.

On the path of martial arts, he had nearly reached the limit.

Yet even so, facing those who had taken advanced gene serums, he could no longer prevail.

After being injured, he chose to return to his hometown, the Jun'an Residential Complex.

"Talking to you now about innate killing moves is a bit like telling a myth—I've strayed too far.

Let's get back to innate martial skills.

They are the core of every martial artist, and no two martial artists have the same innate martial skill.

For example, the champion of the last Martial Arts Tournament had the innate martial skill of Phantom Sound Fist.

With one punch, countless phantoms appear, making it impossible to defend against.

You could say such an innate martial skill is nearly one with the Dao, surpassing the limits of the human body.

After all... we carbon-based lifeforms, if we don't take advanced gene serums, are actually... very weak."

As Yang Shan spoke, a look of reminiscence and nostalgia crept into his eyes.

When he first unleashed his innate martial skill, he felt for the first time that martial arts were so enchanting.

He even felt he had... stepped onto a path of transcendence.

Because innate martial skills are not ordinary boxing techniques, nor any kind of skill—they are... transcendence.

Yes, that was how Yang Shan defined innate martial skills.

Though this transcendence was weak, it was truly transcendence.

But alas, after wasting more than a decade, he had already stood at the peak of martial arts, yet he still couldn't break the limit.

Especially when, after a lifetime of hard training, someone else could take a single shot of advanced gene serum and easily defeat you.

Even innate martial skills were useless against those people.

Taking gene serums could even awaken gene martial skills, completely overwhelming innate ones.

That was when Yang Shan became disheartened, feeling that the path of martial arts... had reached its end.

For so many years, even though researchers studied martial arts, and even some big shots at the peak of martial arts spent heavily to establish research labs to find ways to break the limits of martial arts, they never succeeded.

Martial arts had even been reduced to a folk culture in need of protection, and a competitive sport.

"Transcendence?" Qi Yuan's eyes lit up.

To be honest, he had never seen an innate martial skill.

At the Mingwu Martial Arts Hall, there were only a few martial artists, and he wasn't close to any of them; besides, no one casually demonstrated their innate martial skills.

"Saying it's transcendence is just gilding the lily for martial arts," Yang Shan said with a self-deprecating smile.

If martial arts were truly transcendent, how could taking a gene serum allow someone to unleash something akin to an innate martial skill?

"Talking a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once for yourself.

I'll personally show you my innate martial skill.

Thunderclap Palm!"

As Yang Shan spoke, his eyes turned sharp in that moment.

A powerful aura spread, and Qi Yuan sensed a presence beyond ordinary humans.

"A bit stronger than a Blue Star human," Qi Yuan judged.

Of course, the strength was limited—it couldn't even defend against blades or swords.

"Ha!"

Yang Shan let out a loud shout.

A mighty palm thrust forward; the air seemed to tremble, and a muffled sound of thunder appeared to echo in the air.

Thunderclap Palm, as its name suggested.

Such a palm strike would be enough to astonish an ordinary person, easily smashing a brick to pieces with one punch.

If it hit an ordinary person, it could even kill them with a single blow.

Qi Yuan squinted his eyes; in that palm strike just now, he saw something different.

"Too bad. If you lived on Blue Star, performing palm strikes to break bricks on video channels every day, you'd definitely become a generation's qigong master, a big streamer with millions of fans.

Too bad, this is Gong Star."

Qi Yuan gave his assessment.

Yang Shan's punch did indeed contain a hint of transcendent elements.

On Blue Star, its power could fool quite a few people into thinking he had real kung fu.

But this was Gong Star, where many people took gene serums.

Some could even bend steel bars with their bare hands.

A peak martial artist meant nothing.

"What is Blue Star?" Yang Shan asked, puzzled.

"A blue planet—well, my homeworld. Actually... I'm an alien."

"... Your mental illness certificate—it's not real, is it?" Yang Shan was astonished.

From the start, he had been warned that this neighbor had a mental illness certificate.

But Qi Yuan said he was faking it, because having the certificate made things easier and came with subsidies.

He had believed him.

Now it seemed Qi Yuan's mental illness didn't seem fake.

PS: Starting tomorrow, I will resume stable updates, and gradually make up for the backlog—there's quite a bit to catch up on.

(End of this chapter)