Brutal Conditions

The other spy's voice was unfamiliar to Han Li. He was certain he had never seen this person before. Judging by the timbre of his voice, he was relatively young, probably around twenty years old.

Unfortunately, Han Li’s caution prevented him from even daring to sneak a glance. He was afraid that these two men, with their refined skills, might be able to sense his gaze. If they discovered an outsider nearby, the cost would far outweigh any potential gain.

After this incident, the rest of the journey was remarkably peaceful. It was well past the dinner hour when Han Li finally returned to his quarters.

As usual, Doctor Mo showed no interest whatsoever in Han Li’s mysterious comings and goings. Apart from occasionally delivering some prepared medicines, he gave Han Li complete freedom in all his actions and behavior.

If it weren't for the fact that the medicines Doctor Mo sent were all concocted from the rare herbs he had collected on his last trip down the mountain, Han Li might have thought the man had given up all hope for him and was simply preparing some other venomous scheme in the meantime.

Now, Han Li had completely outgrown the so-called precious medicines Doctor Mo sent. However, to avoid arousing suspicion, he still pinched his nose and forced them down. He wasn't afraid that the delivered medicine might contain poison. If the doctor harmed him now, he would only be harming himself.

As for the Wild Wolf Gang spy he had encountered on the road, Han Li had already thought of a good solution on his way back.

Although he didn't have particularly deep feelings for the Seven Mysteries Sect, he was still, after all, a half-inner disciple. He couldn't very well stand by and do nothing when something that threatened the sect was happening right under his nose. Besides, he had already found the perfect person to handle this matter for him—Li Feiyu, Senior Brother Li.

From what Han Li had observed, perhaps due to his consumption of the Marrow-Extracting Pill, Li Feiyu’s desire for fame and profit was much stronger than an ordinary person's. He harbored no small amount of ambition, always dreaming of entering the upper echelons of the Seven Mysteries Sect and becoming a more prominent figure.

Han Li had guessed that his friend probably wanted to live more wildly and brilliantly in his final days. Now, he was personally handing him a great merit, which would surely make him overjoyed. This could also be considered repayment for the great favor of retrieving the sword manual.

Just thinking about the Blinking Sword Art sent waves of excitement through Han Li’s heart.

He hadn’t lied to his friend about the Blinking Sword Art. The manual truly was unsuitable for Li Feiyu to practice. But Han Li hadn't revealed many of the finer details.

For him, keeping some small secrets from everyone was his unshakable rule for survival. Even if the other person seemed to be his closest friend, it was no exception.

However, what was recorded in these manuals was indeed vastly different from ordinary martial arts.

From Han Li’s perspective, it was more appropriate to call it a sword technique rather than a sword art. It was a complete assassination secret technique that integrated factors like timing, terrain, and human condition. It was a very rare, pure killing technique: the sword is drawn, and the target dies.

These books described various techniques for killing an enemy with a single strike, using one’s own hard-earned, esoteric swordplay in different environments and at different times of day.

It taught the practitioner to use the surrounding terrain—every single blade of grass and tree—and the varying angles of light to create visual errors for the opponent, seize their weakness in an instant, see through their flaws, and slay them in that fleeting moment.

This was a secret technique that emphasized skill above all else. Without a certain amount of talent, it was impossible to comprehend and master this swordsmanship.

Therefore, anyone who wanted to practice this secret technique had to have exceptional senses, with vision and hearing far surpassing ordinary people, to have any hope of succeeding.

If these were the only conditions, it might have been acceptable. Some disciples would still choose to learn it, tempted by its power.

But outrageously, there was an even harsher condition. It required the practitioner to have no pure internal energy. Otherwise, because the energy would conflict with the force and technique required for the moves, practice would be exceptionally difficult. Even if one were lucky enough to succeed, in actual combat, the abundant true qi in the body would unconsciously distort the sword forms, leaving significant openings for the enemy and inviting deadly disaster.

This condition essentially cut off the aspirations of most people. Remember the common saying in the Jianghu: "Practice the fist without cultivating the skill, and in the end, your efforts will be nil." For them, abandoning internal energy practice was a grave taboo. Giving up one’s true qi training for an obscure, nameless swordsmanship would make one a huge laughingstock in the martial world.

This left only a very few who still intended to continue. But even for these people, even if they had talent and no issues with true qi, one final obstacle stood in their way, completely dashing any thoughts they had of persisting.

That was the sheer volume and complexity of the sword technique’s moves and the overly meticulous, cumbersome conditions for their application.

Just looking at the large pile of thick manuals in the bundle was enough to intimidate the average person. Each manual basically represented a single sword move, and each move was further broken down into hundreds of sub-moves. Each sub-move had different techniques depending on the environment and the time of day.

Faced with such a massive quantity of sword techniques, even reading them was a headache, let alone memorizing them all and then comprehending and practicing them on one's own.

These brutal training conditions had obstructed countless disciples who were interested in learning this sword art, causing them to silently curse the elder who had created it.

As time passed, the entire Seven Mysteries Sect gradually lost interest in this swordsmanship. They believed it was impossible for anyone to master it. Perhaps the set of martial arts was completely fabricated by that elder on his deathbed. Otherwise, how could it have such absurd training conditions? It was clearly a deliberate attempt to make things difficult for the disciples who didn’t know its details. And so, these manuals were left to gather dust on the shelves, no one bothering to look into them ever again.