Chapter 21: The Secret About To Be Unraveled

Chapter 21 The Hidden Secret About to Be Unveiled

“This must be what they’re looking for.” Zhao Changhe gasped heavily, but his tone was brimming with excitement: “You’ve seen more than I have—do you know what this means?”

Luo Qi stood dazed, staring blankly at the scene of the blood dragon circling the moon in the pool, a mix of sorrow and joy in her eyes.

After a long while, she replied in a low voice: “This has triggered some kind of prohibition. Either a previously invisible hidden door has now appeared, or a lethal barrier that would kill on contact has dissolved, allowing entry. Either way, the range should be nearby—it can’t be somewhere completely unrelated.”

“I see…” Zhao Changhe rose weakly and looked around.

The mystical atmosphere grew even thicker.

“So the Blood God Sect settled here because their techniques, with blood and killing intent, can unlock these prohibitions.” Luo Qi murmured as if to herself: “The suffering from your Blood Fiend Art…”

“Wasn’t for nothing, right? That’s the protagonist’s fate—how many others who learned the Blood God Sect’s techniques came here to drip blood?” Zhao Changhe felt much less weak now, and he strode energetically around the pool: “Come here, come here. I’m guessing if there’s a hidden door, it should be here.”

Luo Qi followed as if in a dream, and saw Zhao Changhe heading toward the cliff behind the waterfall.

Behind a waterfall, due to years of splashing, there’s usually a hollow or a small cave. Naturally, this place had one too, but Luo Qi, who had been deliberately searching, had already checked it long ago and found nothing special. In fact, the Blood God Sect disciples had searched here countless times; if anything were there, it would have been discovered long ago.

But now, Luo Qi agreed with Zhao Changhe’s judgment. When the prohibition was lifted, if there was a hidden door, it would most likely appear here.

Sure enough, as the two passed through the waterfall, they saw that the rock hollow, previously empty, now bore a strange pattern of stars scattered across the sky, like a semicircular dome dotted with countless celestial bodies—a truly mystical sight.

“This is a formation; we need to solve it to enter.” Luo Qi pondered for a long time: “This star map looks a bit like the Azure Dragon constellation…”

She reached out and tapped the corresponding stars of the Azure Dragon’s seven mansions one by one. The star map flickered faintly but showed no further reaction.

Luo Qi’s expression darkened: “This reaction means the idea is correct, but a key point is missing… What could it be?”

Zhao Changhe frowned too.

If Luo Qi couldn’t solve it, he certainly couldn’t. But now that the thing had appeared, it would be a shame if someone else got there first.

Even though he had no idea what was inside.

“For now, this place shouldn’t be discovered in the short term. Others have probably searched it countless times and won’t bother to check again for no reason.” Zhao Changhe said decisively: “We need to find that key point within the next few days.”

Luo Qi looked at him with a complicated expression and said softly: “You can try to sound out Instructor Sun. As for how to ask…”

Zhao Changhe felt a headache—how could he ask that?

“I’ll give it a try.” Zhao Changhe muttered to himself: “Either way, the greatest hope of escaping our current predicament lies here.”

Luo Qi turned to look at the pool outside. The scene of the blood dragon circling the moon had vanished, and from the outside, nothing seemed to have changed.

…

“You broke through?”

The next morning, Zhao Changhe went to see Instructor Sun as usual. Seeing his noticeably fiercer aura, Instructor Sun knew he had broken through.

Incidentally, whether masters had other methods or not, ordinary martial artists couldn’t tell someone’s cultivation just by looking. For instance, even Captain Fang needed Luo Qi to reveal her first barrier to gauge her strength. Instructor Sun only knew because he was aware Zhao Changhe had been attempting a breakthrough the night before; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to tell Zhao Changhe’s level.

That was why there were so many disguised assassinations in the martial world—many heroes had fallen to them.

“I broke through.” Zhao Changhe replied calmly, showing no sign of any hidden thoughts: “I tested it—my burst power is nearly double what it was, and my resilience has improved significantly. The first barrier is indeed formidable.”

Instructor Sun didn’t follow up on that. He studied Zhao Changhe for a moment and then said on his own: “When you practice the Blood Fiend Art for too long, the killing energy boils like ants gnawing, and ordinary people can’t endure it. That’s why the sect’s Blood-Calming Pills are needed. It’s not just during breakthroughs—it can flare up at any time, though it’s especially noticeable then… The reason the Blood Fiend Art is allowed to be taught to outsiders is precisely because…”

Before he could finish, Zhao Changhe interrupted calmly: “I know. Instructor, you’ve hesitated to say it several times before… If it’s just this, I can’t blame you. I can only blame myself for being too eager for quick results.”

He also knew that if he had stopped practicing this evil art half a month earlier, he might have been able to pull out in time. But once he practiced it for too long, it was too late—by the time he reached the threshold of yesterday’s breakthrough, it was already irreversible.

The best option seemed to be to stick with it all the way and aim for the Blood God Art. It was said that the Blood God Art could eliminate these drawbacks, and that claim was probably true. Alternatively, if he had guidance from a stronger master, there would surely be a way.

Instructor Sun continued: “I have high hopes for your potential. That Fang fellow has been keeping you idle—I’ve always thought it’s a waste of talent out of personal spite. In a few days, I might be transferred back to the headquarters. Then I’ll report Fang to the sect leader and try to get you formally inducted. At that point, we’ll see if there’s an opportunity for you to learn the Blood God Art.”

Zhao Changhe was startled: “Instructor, you’re leaving?”

“It depends… on the outcome of a certain matter…” Instructor Sun didn’t elaborate, only saying: “We won’t know for a while yet. In the meantime, I’ll teach you the Blood Fiend Blade Technique… Don’t worry this time—though the technique is more powerful when based on the Blood Fiend Art’s energy circulation, the blade technique itself has no negative effects. It’s a good set of moves. Even if you switch to another cultivation method later, you can still use it—you’ll just need to adapt the energy-driving techniques.”

Zhao Changhe clasped his fists: “Thank you, Instructor. Also, I’ve heard about formations. Is my current cultivation enough to learn about them?”

The so-called outcome of a certain matter… Of course, he knew what it was. If it were before, he might have reported it to Instructor Sun for everyone’s benefit, but now he was unwilling. If he didn’t leave himself a way out, he’d be toyed with to death.

Instructor Sun wasn’t sure if he was being paranoid, but he felt that although Zhao Changhe’s expression was calm and polite today, there was something else hidden behind it… Whether he truly didn’t blame the instructor or not was impossible to tell.

He didn’t dwell on it. It was normal for a young man to have emotions in such a situation. Soon, Zhao Changhe would learn that this was how the martial world worked—nothing ever went perfectly. In fact, being under control made the sect trust him more. For instance, formations, which were relatively core to the sect, could now be discussed freely.

“You want to learn formations?” Instructor Sun said: “Trying to learn too much at once will only lead to indigestion. You don’t have that much energy.”

“At least I need to know how to break them. What if I’m trapped in some formation while traveling the martial world? If I’ve never studied them, I’d be waiting to die…”

“You still want to travel the martial world… Hah…” Instructor Sun chuckled: “But your point is valid. At the very least, you should know some basic formation-breaking knowledge.”

“Please enlighten me, Instructor.”

“Breaking formations is essentially about two things: the formation’s eye and the order. For example, in the Heaven-Earth-Man Triad Formation, the key is to find the order—break Man first, then Earth. If you go straight for the Heaven position, it’s like hitting a wall. For formations like the Big Dipper Seven Stars, you first need to locate the position of the Celestial Pivot—that’s the formation’s eye, and only then do you have the initiative…”

Order. Formation’s eye.

Zhao Changhe recalled what Luo Qi had done. She could recognize that it was a star map within the Azure Dragon’s seven mansions and pick out which stars belonged to them—her starting point was correct. That was already impressive; he himself couldn’t read it, and if he randomly pressed something, the door might explode.

But Luo Qi had only gotten that far. She clearly couldn’t discern the correct order, so she pressed the stars in the conventional sequence of Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, Winnowing Basket—and it didn’t open.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t that hard. If he studied the local theories about star maps and figured out which mansion was the most crucial among the seven, that would be the formation’s eye, wouldn’t it?

Instructor Sun added: “For now, you’re a complete novice. You wouldn’t even know if someone set up a formation around you, let alone break it. Take it slow. First, learn the Blood Fiend Blade Technique—its accompanying footwork has a hint of formation principles. By analogy, you’ll gradually grasp it…”