Chapter 2085 — Astonishing Talent (Part One)

"..." Wei Zhao let out a sigh. This martial technique was truly unorthodox, yet for a great sect, training a batch of deathsworn loyal to the sect—such men could work wonders at the critical moment when they faced other core disciples in battle. When one's own side was spent and strength failing, they could turn defeat into victory at the cost of their own lives!

Only, Wei Zhao wondered—if he himself used it, could he replenish his losses afterward with the energy of the jade pendant's space?

"Elder Han, I would like to make a copy of this martial technique as well!" Wei Zhao said.

"Oh? Such a useless thing, and Mr. Lin is interested too?" Han Tianba was taken aback, yet he did not object. "If Mr. Lin wishes to study it, copy it as you please—but as for cultivating it... best leave that alone. This old man feels this martial technique is of little great use."

"Heh, I merely mean to study it a little!" Wei Zhao said.

"Then good! In a moment I will personally copy it out for Mr. Lin, along with that fragmentary scroll on the Way of Mending Artifacts," Han Tianba said.

"My thanks, then," Wei Zhao nodded, and said, "This third box from the end—surely this one is a normal martial technique?"

"Naturally it is!" Han Tianba nodded. "This martial technique is also the most formidable of all these martial techniques. It is called the Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations!"

"Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations?" Wei Zhao found the name rather strange. "What sort of martial technique is this?"

"Wood, forest, silva—taken purely by the literal sense, it means ever more, ever multiplying!" Han Tianba said. "The higher one cultivates this martial technique, the more formidable it becomes, though the first few stances are merely the rudiments!"

"Oh? How so?" Wei Zhao asked.

"The first stance of the Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations merely augments the power of one's fist, while the second stance can conjure one fist into two, one illusory and one real, so that the opponent can hardly tell which fist is the true one. The third stance is likewise—it can conjure three fists, all the way to the tenth stance, which can conjure ten fists! And from the eleventh stance onward, it is no longer merely the fists that are conjured, but the whole person—one person can be conjured into two, and the twelfth stance into two persons, and so on..." Han Tianba explained.

"This martial technique is formidable indeed!" Wei Zhao nodded. By its name, this martial technique might be somewhat inferior in raw power, but once mastered, it could deliver a surprise strike against an enemy and achieve the aim of a sneak attack.

"Indeed. Yet though it is formidable, cultivating it is a thousand trials and ten thousand hardships. This old man read it through once and could make neither head nor tail of it," Han Tianba said. "For Xiao Po to cultivate this martial technique, I fear it will be rather difficult, no?"

"Yes, Chief. With my aptitude... this martial technique, without someone to guide me—heh... I reckon I will never learn it in my whole life!" Han Xiaopo knew himself well enough and made no boast.

"Just copy this Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations and that Woodchopping Art as well, one copy each, and try cultivating both," Wei Zhao said. "Whichever one you can cultivate, cultivate that one!"

"Right!" Han Xiaopo nodded. "I will do as the Chief says!"

The three of them wasted no time. Each took a set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and set to copying. The four secret manuals were soon copied out. Wei Zhao put away the two he wanted, then took the other two and returned with Han Xiaopo to his lodging.

"First, study this Woodchopping Art on your own. Since Elder Han cultivated it, he must have demonstrated it before you younger folk, no?" Wei Zhao asked.

"He has. Every year at the New Year, Grandfather would demonstrate it for us, to spur us juniors on to diligent cultivation!" Han Xiaopo nodded.

"Good. First try to activate and demonstrate it, and I will study this Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations," Wei Zhao said.

"Yes, Chief!" Han Xiaopo had never even imagined he could activate a martial technique in this single day. After all, after his grandfather entered the Earth Rank, it had taken him nearly two years to activate the first stance of the Woodchopping Art!

Having settled Han Xiaopo, Wei Zhao picked up the mental method and oral formulas of the Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations and began to study them. After reading them through several times, he understood the literal meaning. Now it remained to be seen whether he could activate it!

He strolled out of his room into the courtyard. In the Hidden Han Family's manor, the guest quarters had courtyards of their own, which was convenient for Wei Zhao to practice in!

Reciting the method of circulating and activating the first stance of the Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations silently in his mind, Wei Zhao began to activate the first stance according to the method described...

"Ha!" Wei Zhao threw a punch, almost in one unbroken breath, without the slightest hindrance or clumsiness!

Boom! Wei Zhao's punch smashed into the courtyard's gate wall, and a stretch of wall crashed down. The power brought by this first stance astonished Wei Zhao beyond measure—it was scarcely inferior to the Frenzied Flame Fist! Was it because he wielded it with such familiarity, or because this martial technique was inherently a superior one?

What excited Wei Zhao even more was that he had now confirmed in his heart his earlier conjecture: the martial technique he had discovered in the cave was indeed, like the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, a universal mental method—a universal martial technique. That is to say, so long as one cultivated a universal martial technique, then in cultivating any other martial technique, one could cultivate it to the fullest perfection!

A wood-attribute martial technique, and yet it came as naturally to his hand as a fire-attribute one—when he unleashed it, it was as though he had activated it a thousand times over!

The tremendous crash of the collapsing wall naturally reached Han Xiaopo inside, and he hurried out of his room, somewhat startled. "Chief, what happened?"

"Nothing much. The Wood-Forest-Silva Phantom Thousand Transformations carries no small power!" Wei Zhao said. "At first I thought this martial technique was only meant to bewilder and deceive, but I never expected otherwise!"

"Oh?" Han Xiaopo's eyes went wide with astonishment. "Chief, you have already activated it?"

"Only the first stance!" Wei Zhao said.

"The first stance... to activate the first stance in such a short while—Chief, you truly are a genius!" Han Xiaopo was filled with admiration, prostrating himself in awe. What did it mean to be a genius? Wei Zhao was a genius!

Previously, Han Xiaopo had already admired Wei Zhao for being able to raise his strength so abruptly; now, Wei Zhao could actually activate the Hidden Han Family's most formidable martial technique in such a brief span of time—the speed was simply too fast!

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