Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

’An expert!’

Xu Yang’s scalp went numb, and the pores all over his body instantly tightened.

He was already on guard, but he never expected the man before him to be an expert—at least at the Qi Gathering Cultivation level.

He didn’t know if this was a chance encounter or if the man had been lying in wait to ambush him.

A fierce wind rushed at his face. The man’s five fingers were like an eagle’s talons, his nails sharp and pointed. If they latched on, they would tear five bloody holes in his neck.

In that split second, the major tendons all over his body tensed, and his bones let out a series of crisp CRACKLES.

The instant the five fingers were about to seize his neck, he deliberately offered one of his hands, allowing the man to grab it to avoid having his throat torn out.

Simultaneously, his other arm swung out with savage force. Like the swipe of a bear king’s paw, his muscles bulged as he threw a punch toward the man’s armpit.

It was a trade, mutually assured destruction. Even if the man could tear through his hand, this punch would shatter his ribs.

"Huh?"

Xu Yang quickly realized something was off.

The man’s attack was lightning-fast and the wind it generated was fierce, but his fingers lacked any real killing power. The scene he’d envisioned—his palm being torn open—never happened.

He only felt a slight pang of pain in his palm before the man’s strength gave out. It didn’t seem like he was trying to kill him; it was more like he was trying to capture him.

BAM!

Still, he didn’t hold back the killing blow. He had no idea what this man’s intentions were; the only safe option was to kill him first and figure things out later.

His fist slammed heavily into the man’s armpit, followed immediately by a sharp CRACK.

The next moment, the man shrieked in pain as he was sent flying backward.

’His body is so tough!’

Xu Yang grew even more wary. If that punch had landed on an ordinary person, they would have died instantly, their organs pulverized. Yet this man could still scream.

It felt like he had punched solid stone. If not for the reinforcement from his True Qi, his own hand would have been injured by the impact.

"Die!"

He didn’t stop there. Executing a Bear Pounce, he shot forward like a bolt of lightning as the earth cracked beneath his feet. He threw another punch.

From within his Dantian, True Qi surged out like a tide, continuously gathering in his fist.

In the dead of night, Xu Yang’s fist seemed to glow as it tore through the air.

"Brother, this is a misunderstanding!"

The man shrieked as he flew backward, spewing mouthfuls of blood, his face a mask of pure terror.

Only then did Xu Yang see that the man was already heavily injured. His robes were soaked in blood, and several Palm Seals were imprinted on his body, looking as if they were struck deep into his bones. A gash on his abdomen revealed mangled flesh.

He desperately raised his arms to block Xu Yang’s punch, but he had no strength left.

CRACK!

Xu Yang’s fist shattered the man’s block, continuing with unstoppable force to slam into one of the Palm Seals. Blood instantly splattered everywhere, revealing shards of white bone.

The man’s eyes rolled back into his head as he screamed, his backward flight accelerating.

THUD!

His body slammed into a large tree, bringing his backward flight to an abrupt halt.

The trunk shuddered, and leaves rained down with a RUSTLE.

Xu Yang closed in. Even though the man was on his last breath, his body slumped against the tree like a sack of mud, Xu Yang still drew back his fist and punched again, aiming straight for the vulnerable throat.

CRACK!

The sound of splintering bone rang out. Under the impact of his Fist Force, the man’s neck twisted unnaturally, snapped clean in two.

"Hah..."

Xu Yang let out a heavy breath. The man’s eyes were wide with a look of shock and resentment.

As Xu Yang retracted his fist, the body slumped to the ground.

’He must have taken me for an ordinary person...’

’The man was already critically injured, on the verge of death. He probably passed out here. When I showed up, he must have mistaken me for a commoner he could easily subdue. He never imagined I was also a Martial Artist, which is why he yelled "misunderstanding."’

Xu Yang had no idea if his guess was correct, and with the man dead, there was no way to find out.

But he was definitely an expert, at least with Great Achievement in Qi Gathering Cultivation. If the man hadn’t been injured and depleted of True Qi, Xu Yang would have been the one to die.

Of course, if the man hadn’t been injured, they probably wouldn’t have fought in the first place.

Squatting down, Xu Yang began to search the body. First, he found a money pouch filled with pieces of silver, what looked to be about eleven or twelve taels.

It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t a small amount either—equivalent to two months’ stipend from the Liu Mansion.

With his expenses exceeding his income, this silver was incredibly important. He could maintain his Martial Arts progress without having to skimp on food and clothing for his cultivation.

Continuing his search, he soon felt something hard sewn into the pant leg. It felt like a book.

’Could it be a Secret Manual?’

Xu Yang ripped the fabric with both hands. With a loud RRRIP, a blue-covered book appeared before him. Two powerful words were written on it: Vajra Skill.

’It really is a Secret Manual!’

His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he scanned his surroundings with a wary gaze.

’To be carrying something like this and be so heavily injured... he was probably being hunted for this Secret Manual. That must be how he ended up in this state.’

He quickly tucked the Secret Manual into his robes, then hoisted the corpse and sprinted toward the nearby mountains.

"I’m back!"

He pushed the door open to find the little girl, Xu Qing, still practicing her writing by the light of an oil lamp. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Brother, why are you back so late today?" Xu Qing looked up.

"The master of the house had some business, so I was delayed."

As he spoke, he leaned over, curious to see what Xu Qing was writing.

"No peeking!" The little girl quickly covered her work with her hands.

"With handwriting that ugly, you’re right to hide it."

Xu Yang chuckled. The little girl’s face turned bright red; the truth was, she was hiding it precisely because she was embarrassed by her clumsy handwriting.

After chatting with Xu Qing for a few more moments, he returned to his room, closed the door, and took out the Vajra Skill by the light of the oil lamp to start reading.

"After an ordinary person achieves Qi Gathering, their True Qi has no special characteristics. Its effects are quite ordinary, whether used for attacking or tempering the Physique.

The Vajra Skill is a Cultivation Technique for cultivating Vajra True Qi. It can convert ordinary True Qi into Vajra True Qi. Once Vajra True Qi is mastered, the purity of the True Qi is greatly increased. Not only will attacks be peerless and difficult to expel once they enter an opponent’s body, but the effect of tempering the Physique will also change dramatically.

If one tempers their body with Vajra True Qi for years on end, it can become as hard as a Vajra itself."

This was actually a Body-Protecting Technique for cultivating Vajra True Qi.

’No wonder that man’s body felt abnormally tough,’ he thought. ’He must have cultivated this Vajra Skill as well.’

[Vajra Skill: Uninitiated (0/100)]

He finished reading it once, and a faint light flickered before his eyes as a panel popped into view.

Xu Yang was stunned. The proficiency required to reach Entry Level for Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist was only 10. This was ten times that amount.

’But that makes sense.’

He recalled the description in the book. Cultivating this type of Body-Protecting Technique had little to do with talent; it was primarily a Water Grinding Technique, requiring years of unwavering persistence.

One’s talent had little impact on the progress of the Cultivation Technique.

’The first step in cultivating the Vajra Skill is to produce Vajra True Qi...’

In any case, he had spent the entire day on patrol and hadn’t gotten to cultivate much. He still had plenty of energy.

After hiding the Vajra Skill Secret Manual, Xu Yang closed his eyes and began his first session of cultivating the Vajra Skill.